Pandemonium
by KittenOfDoomage
Summary: Hell in an alleyway has become Hell on Earth. The only clue they have is in a prophecy and no one knows the outcome. Set after ATS ended. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place after the end of ATS. LA was just the start. Hell in the alleyway has become Hell on Earth and no one can predict the outcome. Only a prophecy holds the clue to what can stop it.

Disclaimer: All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

*****

The horde of beasts loomed upon them as the small group of demon fighters looked on at their doom. The two vampires at the head, the blue demon behind and the tall black man, leaning against a dumpster, clutching a bloody wound at his side. The question that the blonde vampire had asked hung in the air as the brunette smiled and raised his sword. He stepped forward, a look of pure contempt and determination on his face. This was their destiny. This was the final fight. And they were probably all going to die.

'Let's go to work.' He said with a small grin lifting one corner of his mouth. The blonde nodded and raised his own weapon, looking ahead to the army of darkness coming down on them fast. As he braced himself to fight alongside his former mentor and nemesis, he took a deep unneeded breath and stepped forward beside the other vampire. The brunette looked at him, finally giving him the encouragement the blonde had searched for all these years and they both charged forward towards the approaching army. The others held back, and watched as the two vampires raised their weapons and screamed almost in unison.

Then one disappeared and the other halted in his approach, noticing immediately the empty space where his comrade had been. The demon horde was still a few metres away and he panicked slightly, looking back in confusion.

'Spike?' He called; a frown on his face.

A roar distracted him and he turned, his weapon readied once more as the residents of hell bore down on him. He flinched as a flash of light filled his vision and a battle cry echoed from behind him. The blue demon had left the black man, who had fallen to the dumpster, and the vampire knew instinctively that he was dead. A part of him wanted to scream, but instead, he turned to his enemy and brought his own wrath down. His missing brethren, and his fallen friends, were forgotten as he waged his war against Hell, but he knew, without thinking, that in part, this was his tribute to them. He would win, he would survive, and he would honour them again.

They would not be forgotten.

They would live on.

****

'It wasn't the end.'

The darkness in the boat cargo hold was consuming and it occupants could only see an inch in front of themselves. A shallow breathing filled the dark space but two sat in the hold, both inhuman, both weary and bleeding from the fight they had thought would be the end. It was the male of the two that was talking, the other sat in silence as he contemplated his own thoughts.

'I really thought it was the end. But Wes…Gunn…they all died for nothing.'

He expected silence to follow his comment, but the female opposite him shifted uncomfortably and shook her head, even though he could barely see the movement.

'They did not die in vain. They died for something I never wished to have before, something I did not believe in. The simple system of belief you all foolishly had in the good in this world is not so foolish.' Her tone was even, as it always was. The only change was that there was no contempt in her voice anymore. 'These things I did not have in my world. I do not understand the things you fight for, the things Wesley told me of. Love, family, friendship. These things were neither required nor wanted in my time. But now, looking at the unrelenting belief you have, the willingness to die for something that you are not even sure is real…I wish to understand these things. I wish to have these things.'

Instead, his own silence followed. His thoughts raced, as the boat rocked from side to side, he held his head in his hands; covered in blood from a fight he didn't think he would win. The only way they had survived was because of the trap he had set before. L.A was dead, in flames, consumed by fire. The demons were gone, for now. He had many thoughts in his mind, but only two mattered.

He had to find Buffy.

And he had to find Spike.

****

'He is probably dead.'

'He's alive.'

'You cannot be sure of that.'

'I am.'

The demon woman folded her arms. Light was slowly filtering into the cargo hold as they neared their destination. Sunrise was imminent and the vampire had slowly moved backwards to the rear of the hold to avoid the sunlight. He knew they would still be in this hold for another twelve hours, and by the time they reached their destination, it would be nightfall and he would be safe to travel. But for now, he had to contend with his companion's arguments. She was irritable because of their conditions and he knew he was hungry. He still wasn't entirely sure that she ate, or slept, or whether she did anything remotely human. He'd probably find out eventually.

'How can you be sure? Do you have some power that I was not made aware of?'

'No. Well…I'm a vampire, Illyria. Spike was family. There was a blood connection between us. I can't sense him near now, and I couldn't when he disappeared. I thought he was dead at first, but there is still a connection there. I know he's alive. Somehow.' He looked down at his tattered remains of a shirt, his eyes connecting with a particularly sore burn mark. Stupid fire breathing dragon. 'I just…I'd know it if he was dead.'

'You show faith in someone you showed contempt for before. I do not understand this.'

'Neither do I.'

Silence held them still for a few moments before she spoke again.

'Did you create him?'

'No. Yes. I had a part in it.'

'I do not understand vampires. You confuse me. It was easier when you were ooze.'

He chuckled. 'I'm prone to agreement.'

'He may be dead.' She said again. He sighed. 'I sensed a portal. When he disappeared. What you may be feeling is residual. He disappeared and your primitive mind cannot comprehend it.'

'This isn't the time for insults, Illyria.' He looked up at her, her blue hair shining lightly in the morning sunshine. She seemed to enjoy the light. Maybe she was more like a plant than a human. 'Wait a minute…you sensed a portal? Do you know where it went?'

'No. It is impossible to pinpoint a portal that is not of my making. But there was a portal there. Surely you must have recognised this?'

'I thought…I wasn't sure.' She fixed him with a glare. 'There was an army coming down on us.'

'Your senses are primitive to me. You are more advanced than the infestation of humans on this world, but in some ways you are weaker. Maybe that is why you were unable to conquer this place.'

'It's not that bad.'

She ignored him and he stared at the window. If it continued to get any lighter, he would have to take cover.

And if this journey took any longer, he might be travelling solo.

****

'How do you know where we are going?' Illyria questioned him for the fiftieth time. His hands gripped the wheel of the stolen car and he frowned over at her.

'We're going to get help from some old friends. That fight wasn't the end but something big is coming. Can't you feel it?'

'I feel nothing.' She replied simply and looked out of the window. It was raining which didn't surprise him, and Illyria seemed consumed by the raindrops making patterns on her window.

'What a surprise.' He murmured and she sent him another glare. He was getting used to those. 'We should be there soon.'

'Where are we going?'

'London.'

'What is London?'

'It's the capital city of this country. It's where help is.' He squinted through the windscreen. 'I hope.'

'This place is significantly wetter then our previous dwelling.'

'Welcome to Great Britain.'

'You know this place well?'

'I have spent time here. A long time ago.' He sighed. 'Do you think maybe we could stop with all the questions for a while?'

She didn't reply and he ran a hand down his face, careful not to take his eyes off the road. His entire system was craving sustenance and he was so tired he could probably sleep for a week. But he knew in his gut that something was coming and he needed to warn the others, and get help. He needed the Slayer.

'How long until we reach our destination?' She asked.

He groaned.

****

The rain was hammering down outside the window as the aged Watcher sat at his desk, books scattered across the desk, pictures of various demons and paragraphs of ancient languages stretched out before him. Random noises echoed around the huge building, belaying the silence in his room. This house itself housed a number of occupants, including several slayers, a witch and a former key. It was the newly appointed headquarters of the New Council, an organisation less plagued by bureaucracy than its predecessor, which had been destroyed the previous year. He had set it up to accommodate the increasing number of slayers that had been activated in their fight against the First, an ancient evil hell bent on conquering the earth.

He sighed and removed his glasses as a particularly loud thump sounded above his head and an argument followed. It was most likely his assistant, Andrew, fighting with one of the newly activated Slayers. He found that whilst the boy was smart, he was easily wound up and incredibly annoying at the best of times.

A car pulling into the driveway caught his attention and he stood up, moving to the door. The only time they ever had visitors this late was when something untoward had happened, or a slayer had found her way here from instruction by the coven. There were thousands of slayers now, and it would take a long time to find each and every one. His only regret about the situation was their uncertainty about the continuation of the line; they were no longer sure if one would still be created into each generation.

A knock sounded at the door and he peered through the window warily. A sword was in the umbrella stand, always ready in case of attack, and his hand gripped it as the rain prevented him seeing who the visitor was. His other hand gripped the door knob and he opened the door slowly, aware that the creak of the old oak would alert the others upstairs. Immediately the argument that had been brewing upstairs stopped and he instinctively knew that if he turned, several young women would be staring at him from the stairs, most likely with weapons in hand.

Without further hesitation, he opened the door and was almost floored by the sight he saw. An old friend, as well as an old enemy stood before him, covered in multiple healing wounds, tattered clothing and with a gaze almost broken in its neediness. He held the door wide open, aware that the visitor could not enter without permission.

'Angel.' He said, no questioning in his voice, just surprise and some resentment. His unforgiving attitude towards the vampire had never wavered, but he was aware of the vampire's contributions as much as he was aware of his failings.

'Giles.' The vampire nodded, looking over the Watcher's shoulder to the small gathering of girls on the stairs. Andrew stood behind them all, waving at the vampire in a friendly manner. Giles looked back and rolled his eyes at the young man's actions.

'What happened?'

'I got into a fight.' Angel replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Giles narrowed his eyes, and looked behind Angel at the blue female demon stood in the rain.

'Who is she?'

'She used to be a friend. Now she's something you might like to study. She's harmless enough, just a bit bitchy at times.' He looked at Giles sincerely. 'Can I come in? We have a problem I think you and everyone needs to hear.'

'Something's coming.' Giles said, almost knowing before Angel had said anything.

'Something big.' He confirmed.

Giles stood aside. 'You may enter. But I'm watching you. There are plenty of slayers here in case you feel a little too overjoyed.'

'No chance of that happening.' He said, stepping inside. The blue demon followed, looking around at her new surroundings with a mixture of curiosity and contempt. Giles studied her for a second, before remembering the weather.

'Ashley, Leanne, would you please go and fetch some towels. Karin, would you please alert Willow about our guests?' The three girls did as instructed as the others watched the new arrivals warily. Andrew rushed forward, hugging a bewildered Angel before the vampire had time to react.

'You look like hell. Can I get you anything? Cocoa, nice mug of O-neg?'

The strange boy's ramblings reminded Angel of his stomach and he pondered asking for a second. Giles seemed to notice his uncomfortable stance and looked at Andrew, finding a way to rid himself of the boy for an hour or so.

'We don't have any blood in stock, but Andrew could run to the butchers for some supplies if you need.'

'That would be great. Been stuck in a cargo hold for the last two days.'

'Does…' Giles motioned to the female demon.

'Illyria.' Angel supplied.

'…Illyria need anything?' Giles asked. The vampire looked at her and then shrugged.

'I do not require anything.' She stated, still looking around without moving.

'Great. Andrew?' The blonde nerd looked at Giles and then nodded, rushing to the door with his coat.

'Back in a flash.' He said cheerily and then disappeared out of the door, closing it behind him. The two girls Giles had sent for towels reappeared and handed them to Angel and Illyria caution in their movements. Angel took the towel and began to dry himself off briskly. Illyria simply stared at the fabric in her hands and studied it. Giles watched her for a moment before turning to the slayers gathered on the stairs.

'Girls, I think you should return to your rooms. I will call you for a meeting in the morning after training to hear anything you need to know.' Silence and obedience greeted his orders and the girls moved away quickly before Giles returned to Angel and the blue female. 'She doesn't seem sure of that towel.' He said quietly to the vampire. Angel grinned, but it was a grim expression.

'Wait till she puts it in her mouth.'

Giles looked a little perturbed, before motioning to the study where he had been before. 'Would you like to come through? Willow should be down in a second. She was meditating.'

'Is Buffy here?' Angel asked as he followed Giles through to the study, leaving Illyria behind. She was still pulling at the towel, completely unsure of it.

'She is out on patrol. She should be back soon.'

'Great. I think she needs to hear some of this. I thought she was still in Rome.'

'She returned after her mission with the Immortal was complete.' Giles informed him, offering the vampire a whiskey as he sat down.

'Not on an empty stomach.' Angel quipped, raising his hands. 'Besides I need a clear head to deal with all this. What do you mean by mission?'

'We had some information on his dealings, which turned out to be less than savoury.' Giles sighed and sat down, a glass of whiskey firmly in one hand. 'Buffy went undercover to suss him out and discovered more of his activities. She decided the best course of action was to incapacitate his abilities. Needless to say she succeeded.'

'Did she kill him? I mean, she seemed…' Angel stopped in his tracks, well aware of Giles' disdain for his "stalking" act. 'I heard…I mean to say…'Giles interrupted him.

'I know of your trip to Italy. I was informed of it by Buffy herself. Andrew told her of your presence. She did not, however, know of Spike's re-emergence to the land of the unliving, but he did tell me. I decided it was best for Buffy to remain unaware of this fact.' He cleared his throat. 'Am I to assume Spike did not continue to work with you at Wolfram and Hart?'

'No, he stuck around.' Angel said, shifting uncomfortably. 'He was fighting with us against them. Then he disappeared.'

'Disappeared?' Giles frowned. 'I think I'm going to need a few more details on this fight, as you put it.'

Willow chose that moment to appear in the doorway. 'Giles? Karin said you wanted to…Angel?' The vampire turned and Willow rushed forward. 'Oh, my god.' She exclaimed upon seeing his disarray. 'What happened? And who's that in the hallway?'

'Willow…Angel was just about to tell me what exactly has led to his…unexpected appearance here. And I'm sure he'll explain exactly who that is.' He leaned over slightly to see what Illyria was doing. The towel was gone and she was staring in their direction. Angel followed his gaze and shrugged.

'She must have eaten it.'

'Eaten what?' Willow asked. Angel looked up at her once more, a sad expression on his face.

'You'd better sit down.'

****

Silence consumed the study. Giles had finished his whiskey and a few more. Willow had gone a paler shade than normal, and was sitting with her hands firmly clasped together in her lap.

'This does explain a lot that has happened in the past few days.' Giles said. 'Demons are emerging everywhere, species we have never seen before. There have been news reports. I knew something had happened in L.A, but I wasn't aware of the full extent of it.'

'I can't believe that's Fred.' Willow said, for the twentieth time. 'She was so…and Wesley? And Gunn?'

'I know, it's a lot to take in. But we can't stop yet. Not to mourn or anything. Something bad is happening and it's up to us.'

'Again.' Willow said.

'And Spike…I feel we must tell Buffy. She has to know now. If what happened to him has any relevance to our situation at all, we must inform everyone.' Giles looked down at his empty glass, wondering briefly whether to refill it or not. Angel watched him carefully, and Giles could feel the elder mans gaze on him heavily. He looked up, locking his eyes with the vampires and he knew exactly what had to be done. 'We need to formulate a plan of action. Buffy should be home any second, and I think it would be best if she heard this from me.' He saw instantly Angel's argument and raised a hand. 'Of course you will be there. I still don't understand a lot of what has happened and she may have questions.' He paused. 'She will have questions. After all, this is Buffy.'

'Do you want me to tell the girls?' Willow asked. Giles shook his head in response.

'No, I've already told them that they will hear all they need to in the morning. It's best they be left to a good nights sleep. I would actually request that you begin researching, Willow, on a way to possibly locate Spike and return him to this plane of existence.'

'What if he's…?' Willow didn't finish her sentence, her gaze flittering between the Watcher and the vampire. Angel shook his head in denial.

'He's not dead. I'd know it if he was.'

'Who's not dead?' A voice came from the hallway. All three turned to find Buffy in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and a stern look on her face. The expression melted as she saw Angel and was replaced by confusion. 'Angel? What are you…?' She stopped and looked at Giles. 'What's going on?'

'Buffy…erm, Angel is here because of…because…' He sighed and took off his glasses, placing them on the desk. 'Perhaps you'd better sit down.'

Buffy wandered into the room, almost in a daze and sat in the only unoccupied chair. She looked at all three of them expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

'Willow, would you kindly go and see to that research?' Willow nodded at Giles request and stood, giving Buffy a look that clearly said they would talk later. Angel stood up and caught Willow's arm, speaking quietly to her. The witch nodded at whatever he had said and hurried out of the room. Angel returned to his seat and looked at Giles. The watcher cleared his throat and looked at the Slayer, concern filling his expression. 'Buffy, some of what we have to tell you may come as a shock, but you have to understand it was kept from you for good reason. Unfortunately the situation requires for you to know everything now, seeing as we may be facing the biggest fight of our lives.'

'I've heard that one before.' She looked at him questioningly. 'But what have you kept from me?'

'Earlier on this week, Angel and his comrades in L.A fought against the corporeal manifestation of the Senior Partners. Several of them died. It is only Angel and one other that made it here.'

'Who?' Buffy interrupted.

'Illyria.' Angel said. 'She used to be Fred, until something killed her. Now she's a demon, but she's safe enough. She doesn't understand much.'

'Okay…' Buffy replied, looking to Giles for confirmation. Her watcher sighed again and Buffy wondered how much she would be hearing that sound from now on.

'In any case, Illyria will be investigated at a later date. She is not important to this chain of events.' He leant forward. 'Buffy, two weeks after Sunnydale, Spike was brought back.'

She went still. Her entire body was flooded with numbness and she struggled to regain her powers of speech. She looked to Angel, her face an expressionless mask. He hung his head, twiddling his thumbs. She then looked firmly at Giles, her jaw set in determination. 'What happened?'

'He was incorporeal. Unable to touch anything, affect anything. Then, he regained his corporeal body. We only know that a former employee of Wolfram and Hart did it, we have no clue how.' He looked to Angel, who was still squirming in his seat uncomfortably. 'Angel says he stayed with them and fought beside them. Only in the final battle…'

'Is he dead?' Buffy asked, cursing the choked voice that came out. She was singed by a sense of betrayal, not only on Spike's part for not telling her he was alive, but because of her former lover's and her Watcher's part in the cover-up. 'Just tell me if he is, please…I already went through that once.'

'Buffy, if he was dead, we wouldn't cause you any more heartache by telling you now that he was alive and didn't tell you.' Giles paused once more, looking at her sincerely. 'From what Angel has told me, Spike disappeared during the final stand against the senior partners. He was sucked through a portal of sorts.'

'That's what you were saying before. When Angel said he wasn't dead. How do you know he isn't?' She looked to Angel for the answers this time and Giles sat back, leaving the vampire to explain himself.

'Vampires have a connection, Buffy, especially if they are of the same line. Drusilla killed him, sure enough, but it was my blood he took. There's a blood connection and I would know if he died.'

'You didn't know he died after Sunnydale.' Buffy stated, staring at her former intently. Angel shook his head.

'He died, yeah, but his essence was still technically in existence, just locked in that amulet. Wesley told me I wouldn't have sensed it. I would know if he died a true death.' Angel looked at Giles, trying to gain some help from the Watcher. But Giles seemed to content to let him answer the questions alone.

Buffy glanced at the floor and then back to Angel. 'Why didn't he tell me he was alive?'

Angel shifted for a second and then looked directly at her. 'He had his own reasons. All he ever told me was that he wanted you to have a normal life. That showing up on your doorstep wasn't fair to you.'

'Was he with you when you turned up in Rome? Did he care enough?' Buffy asked quickly. Her tone was harsh and she regretted it immediately.

'I'm going to go see where Andrew has gotten to.' Giles said, excusing himself from the room. Buffy waited for him to leave, before pressing with her inquiries.

'Well?'

Angel stood up, wincing as he caught the burn on his torso. 'He never stopped loving you, Buffy. I know that for a fact. But he didn't want to hurt you anymore. And yes, he was in Rome.'

Buffy looked away, guilt flushing over her. She knew what it must have felt like to see her with the Immortal. He'd never known it was just a mission. Then something struck her. 'That means Andrew knew.' She frowned. 'Oh, I'm so gonna…'

'Andrew was only doing what he was told. Giles didn't want you to know because he didn't want to cause more upset.'

'Upset?' Buffy stood up. 'Upset? I told Spike I loved him before he burned up in that hell hole. And he didn't believe me. Because of everything we did to each other he didn't believe I could ever love him back. That I was only saying it to make him feel better. When I loved him more than anything. I truly did. And I spent all those months mourning for him and torturing myself over it. Blaming myself for his death.' Tears glistened in her eyes. 'All that time he was alive.' She paused. 'Dawn cried for weeks, because she never told him she had forgiven him. She tore herself up over it. And he didn't want to cause any more upset?' She narrowed her eyes at Angel. 'Did you have anything to do with this?'

Angel shook his head. 'Buffy, Spike's his own vampire. He does what he wants.'

'Exactly, so he would have come storming back into my life and made himself known like he always does. Spike doesn't sit back and leave things alone.'

'Well, this time he did.'

'I don't believe you. Something kept him from coming to me.'

'The first few months, yeah it did. He was a ghost, Buffy. Couldn't touch anything.'

'But what about after that?' She asked and Angel sighed.

'He told us he was leaving. Told us he was going for you. But then he didn't.' He stopped, remembering what he had said to the other vampire and guilt surged through him. 'I asked him to stay. But not because I wanted him to stay away from you. I asked him to stay because…well, I'm not entirely sure. But he did stay. And he fought hard. I know that he was fighting for you, even if he couldn't be with you. He did love you, Buffy. He never stopped.'

Buffy sank back down into her seat, tears making her shoulders shake. Angel crouched beside her and rubbed her back gently. 'I never told him. Not until it was too late. And he didn't believe me.'

'You'll tell him. Willow will find a way to get him back and you can tell him.' Buffy looked at him, sniffing and trying to hold back the tears.

'I hope so.' Angel smiled and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly, the thought that he was reassuring her about Spike of all people not even registering. All he knew was that the girl he had once loved more than anything was hurting and she needed to be told everything would be alright.

'I know so. This is Spike, remember? Wherever he is, he's probably putting up a hell of fight.'

****

The pain was excruciating. But he couldn't have told you that if he tried. He didn't know how long he'd been here but knew it was a while. It felt like years, and the sight of his blood had since become common place. Red washed into the blackness of his prison, the screams from around him echoed painfully in his beaten head. He was unrecognisable; even he had almost forgotten who he was. His tormentors had invaded his senses in everyway, pulled things he treasured from his mind, memories, feelings; everything was being taken from him. He didn't remember why he was still fighting back, but it was the only thing he could hold onto. Whoever he had been, whoever he was, he was not going to let them beat him.

He would fight.

For no reason, he would fight.

****

The sound of feet woke Angel from his restless sleep, and he squinted at the bright light filtering into the room. The curtains were shut, preventing any actual harm from coming to him, but his eyes and head still felt like he'd been drinking whiskey for a week straight. He was tired still, but knew that he wouldn't sleep again. He had to check on Illyria, and see what progress Giles had made on researching the new problem they were facing. He knew that Buffy probably hadn't slept, mainly due to the truths she had discovered last night, but she was also anxious for the arrival of her little sister and Xander, who was collecting her from the airport. Angel wasn't looking forward to the confrontation he would inevitably have with the carpenter, and wasn't much for the reaction Xander would display when he discovered that Spike had returned to the land of the living and they were currently mounting a rescue mission.

Doors were banging all over the house and Angel reluctantly removed himself from the bed and dressed in the clean, and thoroughly intact, clothes that Giles had provided for him the night before. He didn't bother with showering; the cuts and bruises he still maintained from the fight were still tender, and he knew hot water, or cold, was only going to sting and put him in a bad mood.

It didn't take long for him to navigate himself to the door and downstairs. It was a fairly large house, with four floors. He hadn't gotten much of a look from outside in the rain, but from the interior, he guessed that it would look like something out of a Jane Austen novel. Large, typically English. One could only wonder how Giles managed to afford such a large place as this. But he wasn't going to ask. He might have been the Scourge of Europe at one point, but he still had some manners.

Buffy was alone in the kitchen when he came downstairs, and she smiled at him wearily as he entered and headed for the fridge. Andrew had done a good job on collecting supplies from the butchers; he'd even made an extra trip to a local supermarket, ASDA or something. Angel hadn't heard of the chain, but he assumed they were most likely part of Wal-Mart. Everyone knew they were taking over the world.

'How'd you sleep?' Buffy asked, picking at her toast. Angel sat opposite her, a blood packet in his hand. He stared at it and shrugged in response to her question. Buffy pointed at a cupboard behind him and grinned. 'Mugs are in there. And the microwave is over there.' She motioned to a microwave that was nestled near a huge sink. It looked like it was as old as the house itself. 'I can do it for you, if you want.'

Angel shook his head, but Buffy stood up and took the packet from him anyway. She busied herself preparing his breakfast as he looked at the headline on a paper, discarded on the side. It was a copy of the Daily Mail, and the headline was definitely an attention grabbing one. "Riots continue over capital, England in turmoil." He pulled the paper towards him, frowning. Buffy noticed what he was doing and cleared her throat.

'There's been rioting the past three days, all over the world. Sixteen people got killed in broad daylight in the street in London. It's happening everywhere, small villages, and towns. A plane got emergency landed in France yesterday because some guy actually went crazy and exploded.'

'Exploded?'

'Tell me that ain't supernatural.' She quipped and put the mug down in front of him, full of warm blood. He looked at it for a second, before quashing all manner of respectable behaviour and downing it in one large gulp. Buffy watched him, not in the least bit perturbed. 'Hungry?'

'I was; thanks. Been a rough couple of days.'

'Of course they're blaming the guy on the plane for being a terrorist or something. Thing was, he didn't damage the plane, just covered it in blood and guts. And they didn't find any explosives. So if he was a terrorist, he needed to read up a bit more.' Angel chuckled and pushed the paper away. He looked towards the doorway.

'When are Dawn and Xander getting here?' Buffy shrugged.

'Any time really. Xander said he'd picked her up okay, but it depends on whether Dawn makes him go shopping or not. She's obsessed with Oxford Street.'

'Surely she knows how bad the situation is?'

Buffy looked guilty for a second. 'We haven't told her anything yet. She was flying over anyway, because they've all just split up from school for the summer in Italy. I wanted to wait and tell her to her face.' She sighed. 'I had to tell Faith over the phone though. She's making arrangements to travel over with Robin and the slayers they've got in Cleveland.'

'That's gonna cost a bundle.'

'Private jets.'

Angel looked at her in surprise. 'Private jets? What did you do, win the lottery?'

Buffy laughed. 'No. Giles does it all. Turns out, being a Watcher pays well. And since the old council got destroyed, and he's the most senior member of the watchers that are left, he got pretty much everything he needed to start up a new operation. We've still got a few hiccups but other than that, we're good to go.' She sighed again. 'Just depends whether all our resources are gonna be enough against this ultimate evil.'

How's the research going by the way?'

Willow walked in, an empty cup in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. 'The research goes well, but I'm all outta coffee.' She sat at the counter as Buffy set about making some coffee. 'I found a spell that could possibly locate Spike, but it's a really, really long shot. And we need something personal of his which is gonna be difficult. It says blood is the best thing, but I don't think we thought to keep any of that on hand.'

'But we might be able to tweak it right?' Buffy asked, looking at the witch hopefully. Willow grimaced.

'It'll be difficult, Buffy, but we'll keep on trying.'

'What about my blood?' Angel asked. 'It not his, but its still the same line.'

Willow shook her head. 'It's not close enough. I need something that was definitely his.' Silence fell over the kitchen. Buffy handed Willow a fresh mug of coffee and the witch smiled. 'Don't worry Buffy, we'll find something. We'll get him back…again.' Buffy nodded and smiled a little unhappily.

The front door suddenly opened and Xander's voice filtered through to the kitchen. 'Honey, we're home.'

'Buffy?' Dawn called, and then she appeared in the doorway. Buffy moved quickly to her and the sisters embraced. Angel shifted uncomfortably as Xander entered and the new arrivals gazes fell on him curiously. 'Why's Angel here?' Dawn asked, looking at her sister with concern.

Buffy was about to answer when Giles chose that moment to appear through the door at the back of the kitchen, a book in hand. 'Ah, Dawn, Xander, you're here. Willow if you would get the girls together, we'll all convene in the dining room and get everyone up to speed.'

Willow rushed off quickly as Buffy looked at Dawn and Xander apologetically. 'Sorry, guys. I promise this will all be explained.'

'What's wrong?' Xander asked. He looked at Angel. 'And why's he here?'

'Guys, just come into the dining room, we'll explain everything. It's a long story and it's gonna be easier if we tell everyone at once.' She waited for a response. Dawn shrugged.

'Okay, but for the record, I don't like this.' She shuddered and looked at Xander. 'I told you something was wrong.'

She followed her sister through the hallway into the dining room where Giles had disappeared, and Xander followed them, with Angel trudging behind. The other slayers were slowly convening inside the large room, which was more like a ballroom than a dining room, and Angel couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. He only hoped that the explanation would be over soon and the questions that would inevitably follow would be over even sooner.

Whatever came of this, it wouldn't be easy for anyone.

****

Silence was the only thing echoing through the house. The meeting had taken three hours by the time all questions were answered and jobs delegated. Then Giles had dismissed them all. Willow and a few of the younger, more enthusiastic, slayers had headed into the library to continue researching both the upcoming apocalypse and the problem of finding Spike. Giles had not been specific on which one was more important, but Buffy had made it clear to Willow that she had to put the majority of her energies into finding the blonde vampire. Angel, for some reason, agreed with her. He couldn't help but feel the same way Buffy did; Spike was important to this fight, otherwise he wouldn't have disappeared. Someone had done something to him; nothing ever happened without due reason in this world.

Dawn had been worse affected by Spike's disappearance than even Buffy had. The slayer herself had been upset, but had remained calm and collected throughout the whole time since she had found out. Which showed Angel just how much she had grown up since he had left Sunnydale for good. Xander had simply stood by and comforted the younger Summers, keeping his mouth clear of making any wise cracks about the vampire.

After the meeting, Angel had trudged back to the kitchen, to find the sun had set outside. He'd decided to go and find Buffy, see if she fancied a patrol around the town. Only he'd discovered she had departed straight after the meeting and had already headed out for patrol alone. So he grabbed his coat, made a brief check on Illyria, who was standing in the corner of the library and had been doing so for several hours, and then left the house to find Buffy.

He picked up her trail as he left the grounds of the house, which were quite expansive. She had headed north from the estate, probably further into town to find a graveyard. He followed her path, moving as silently as the night itself, all his senses focused on her and her destination. It didn't take long to pick up the sound of a fight ahead of him, in the nearest graveyard. He picked up his pace and climbed up the graveyard wall, crouching on top of the closest mausoleum and scanning the cemetery for the blonde slayer. She was fighting about three hundred yards away from him, against a fledgling it shouldn't have taken her two seconds to dust. The vampire was fighting weakly, barely protecting himself against the vicious blows Buffy was raining down on him. She didn't stop for a few minutes, taking all of her aggression out on the demon before finally bringing her stake down. The vampire exploded into dust and died.

'You can come out now.' Buffy said, and it became clear that she was talking to Angel. He stood up and jumped down from the mausoleum, smiling slightly. She turned to him and folded her arms. 'I knew you'd follow me.' She walked towards him, a smile on her face. 'I'm starting to think stalking me is a hobby of yours that will never go away.'

'I don't stalk you.' Angel defended himself, and then smiled again. 'I just…check up on you from time to time.'

'Right.' Buffy said, walking past him and towards the exit of the graveyard. 'You're just looking out for me.'

'Exactly.' He nodded and began to follow her once more. She rolled her eyes and let her arms fall to her sides, the stake clutched securely in her right hand.

'So, what's everyone else doing?' Buffy asked, as he joined her at her side.

'What Giles told them to do. I wasn't really paying attention.' He said, his eyes scanning the cemetery for any vampires.

Silence was the only thing that greeted them as they left the cemetery and continued down the street. Buffy held her arms closely to herself, her eyes focused on the floor. Whilst to the innocent onlooker, she would have seemed like she was lost in her thoughts, the vampire beside her knew that whilst her eyes were downcast, the rest of her senses were alert for the presence of anything that needed killing. He didn't speak for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. He didn't need to think of anything; however, as the slayer started a conversation.

'Do you think we'll find him?'

Angel sighed and looked up at the sky briefly, seeing the clouds had begun to separate, allowing the light of the moon to shine through. Stars winked at him as he looked back down and smiled reassuringly at the petite blonde. 'I'm sure we'll find him. Wherever he is, Spike will be fine. He's not one to give up easily.'

'I know.' She sighed. 'I wish he'd come back. I really miss him sometimes.'

'You do?' Angel asked, wishing his tone didn't sound as incredulous. Buffy smiled.

'I really do. Sometimes, when someone says something and you can't think of a comeback, Spike comes in really handy.'

Angel chuckled. 'He was good at that. Sarcastic to the end.'

'He fought hard to change. It's not fair he never got a chance.' Buffy sighed and dropped her arms. 'I just wish he'd believe in himself. Like I believed in him.'

The brunette vampire had nothing to say. He had never liked the younger vampire, although he cared what happened to him, since he got the soul anyway. Angelus had never had any care for the blonde, had never given more than a miniscule thought to him. He was glad of the distraction for Drusilla, but had never taken more than a passing thought for him other than that. He knew Spike looked up to him, wanted to beat him; and for that part, Angel was glad he had never succeeded. The fact that he had had a hand in creating a vicious creature like the one Spike used to be upset him deeply but in truth, the other vampire had never been quite as cruel as Angelus had been. He had never crossed the line like Angelus had done. He had done things that were bad, yes, and truly evil at points, but he had never done things that had made other vampires baulk, like Angelus had.

Angel only hoped now, that wherever Spike was, they got to him quickly, before the man Spike had fought to become was lost forever.

For Buffy's sake.

****

'We have a very small problem.' Giles said, his eyes moving over the crowd before him. 'And by small, I mean apocalyptic.' The slayers all tensed at once and he signalled to Willow, who was standing by the television. She switched it on and the screen flickered to life. The images that appeared before the room made the slayers gasp. The only ones that remained unmoved were the original members of the Scooby Gang and the vampire. It was, unfortunately, nothing they hadn't seen before.

A woman reporter, with microphone in hand, stood by a burning building in Milan, speaking in Italian tainted English. Behind her, fighting was happening and bodies lay in the street. "We come to you live from Milan, a once beautiful city, marred now by fighting. The origins of this war are unknown, but the main culprits are disfigured creatures, who are targeting anyone and everyone, killing without judgement, and destroying the city piece by piece."

Giles nodded at Willow and she turned the television off. He turned back to the gathering of slayers and frowned. 'There've been reports coming in from all over the place. Demons are breaking through everywhere. Pandemonium is consuming the earth.' He lent against the wall, sighing heavily. 'I'm afraid what we have always been waiting for has started to happen. This is Armageddon. Biblical proportions. The end of the world. The last few days have been tense, I know this hasn't been easy for anyone. But after researching it thoroughly, and with the coven's help, we now know exactly what we are facing.' He looked at Andrew, who held up a book and began to speak clearly.

"Darkness shall fall on all corners of the earth, as the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart consume humanity and burn the world. Armageddon will rise and the Phoenix shall hail the world of the victor. The Devil shall walk the Earth, unless the Slayer, the Key, and the evil of good unite where man was created and true heaven reigns."

Giles waited for a reaction but was only confronted with confused looks. He removed his glasses and cleaned them briefly. 'We have deciphered that there is no guaranteed winner. We have a chance at least.'

'Have you figured out the rest of it?' Xander asked.

'I think it's pretty self-explanatory.' Buffy said, stepping forward. 'I'm the Slayer, the original, right? Dawn is the Key.'

'I didn't think I worked anymore.' Dawn said, looking between her sister and the watcher with concern. 'I'm not sure I wanna work.'

'I wouldn't worry about it, sweetie. We'll make sure nothing bad happens to you.' Buffy said, moving over to her sister and rubbing her shoulder reassuringly. She then looked back to Giles. 'Any idea what the rest of it means? Evil of Good for example?'

Giles shook his head. 'We're not certain. But I've got a feeling it relates to Angel and Spike. Two vampires with souls? The very ones that have fought already against the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart.'

'That would explain why Spike disappeared.' Angel said. 'Maybe he is a part of this.'

'In which case we need to find him and pronto.' Buffy said; her expression serious as she focused on Willow. 'Have you made any gangway on that?'

Willow nodded. 'I have something that will help us find him and a spell to pull him back. But we need something that was his, and if any magic is protecting him from retrieval, it might be quite difficult.'

Buffy nodded, and took a breath. Dawn looked at Willow. 'But we don't have anything that belongs to him. At all.' She looked to her sister. 'Do we?'

The room fell silent as all eyes locked onto the original Slayer. She bit her lip and reached into her pocket, holding up a small silver object. 'This was his. I kinda…stole it from him.' She shrunk under Dawn's berating gaze and handed it to the witch. 'Just something to remember him by. I don't think he even noticed.'

'Oh, he noticed.' Angel said. 'But you might have just saved us all, Buffy.'

'I need to you with me to perform the ritual, Buffy. And you, Angel. It will probably take a while, because it involves scrying the dimensions for him. So I suggest a good night's sleep and some food before we start.' Willow said, looking between the slayer and vampire.

'We don't have time for that.' Buffy said. 'And I already ate. Angel, you good to go?' The vampire nodded in response. 'Then we're all set. You guys, start training, and Giles, research would be brilliant.' Giles looked at her with narrowed eyes.

'Are you sure about this Buffy? This is true war. It will be far beyond the First.'

She stopped and folded her arms. 'I know.' She looked around the room. 'And I know some of you haven't been doing this for long. But this is what we were born for, people. This is what we are. We are the only thing that stands between this world and hell. It's gonna be hard, and its gonna be bloody and a lot of us aren't going to survive. I faced death and it isn't pretty. But I want you to do one thing. Remember the thing that keeps you going everyday, remember your families, your friends, your pets. The one moment you live for. Even if it hasn't happened yet. And hold on to it.' She looked at Dawn. 'Because that one thing will keep you fighting, and may just keep you alive.'

Dawn smiled and the rest of the room nodded in agreement. Buffy didn't wait for any comment and turned to Willow.

'What are we waiting for?'

****

The room was silent and had been for hours. The only people in the actual circle were Buffy, Angel, Willow and a couple of the junior witches. Giles had refrained from joining them and had instead gathered the slayers for training and research. Only he could multi-task to that degree – something to do with being British. He had helped them set up and had locked the door from the outside. He knew that silence and no interruptions were essential to the spell working.

Buffy had had no qualms about assisting Willow in the retrieval of Spike and surprisingly, Angel had no such problems either. The younger slayers had questioned the need to go after a vampire but they had been silenced with a lecture from Giles. But Buffy couldn't blame them; she had once been just like them. Only now, she knew that there were grey areas and Spike was one of them – he always had been.

They had been sitting in the room for more than five hours, but she didn't feel tired. She was focusing all her energy on Spike, as Willow had instructed and she was the only one who was actually doing any work. Buffy wished she could open her eyes, but found it impossible to do so, and she didn't want to muck anything up by trying. She just wanted to know how it was going. Occasionally Willow would tense and the room would almost be electric but then it would stop and Willow would relax once more. She was running now on the power provided by the slayers and the vampire in the room. Buffy just hoped she found the other vampire before she ran out of battery.

The room sizzled again and Willow tensed, tightening her grip on Buffy's hand to a point where if Buffy had been a normal human, she would have broken bones. But Buffy wasn't a normal human, and neither was anyone else in the room. Buffy waited for the electricity to subside, and when it didn't, she allowed herself to get hopeful. Willow said something that she didn't quite catch, and she strained to hear anything else.

'Release…release…release…' The red head was chanting. Buffy frowned. 'You can speak now, I've found him.' The witch said, opening her eyes. Buffy followed suit. 'Just don't break the circle. I still need your power to get him out.'

'Where is he?'

'I can't say, all I know is I'm sensing something with a greater power than me is holding him. This is a manufactured dimension. It was made by someone. Someone who has an invested interest in this apocalypse.' Willow gritted her teeth. 'They're fighting back against me. I need to figure out a way to free him from their spell.'

'They're blocking you?' Angel asked.

'They're trying. But I'm sneaky.' Willow gripped tighter on Buffy's hand and the slayer let out a small yelp. 'I'm sorry. I need more…' The room exploded with bright light and the circle was broken as each member was thrown backwards. The light didn't dim for a few seconds and Buffy struggled to sit up and put her hand over her eyes to try and see. It didn't work. She clambered to her feet as the light disappeared and she looked around. Willow was sitting on the floor with one of the slayer's beside her, handing her a tissue for the bloody nose she had developed. The other young slayer had ended up by the door and was slowly being helped to her feet by Angel.

Then her eyes fell on the figure at the centre of the room, in the middle of the circle that had been obliterated. He was barely clothed; whatever he had been wearing was reduced to rags, and the scars that covered his body made her feel sick to her stomach. One of his eyes was sealed shut and bloody, and the other was shut, due his current state of unconsciousness. Blood and wounds covered him from head to toe; it seemed not an inch of him had been left untouched. Even his blonde locks were stained with his own blood.

She stepped forward and reached out to him, when he suddenly jolted away and snarled at her, vamping out, even though it wasn't too intimidating with the swollen eye. He bared his teeth, and moved to a crouching position. His eyes darted around like a wild animals, and he snarled as soon as Buffy moved.

'Spike…' she whispered. 'Spike…it's me.'

'He won't remember Buffy.' Willow said, limping forward with the help of the younger slayer. As she came closer to Spike, he retreated and went silent, and she frowned at him. Buffy looked between the witch and the vampire and frowned herself.

'Why's he backing away from you?'

'He can sense her power.' Angel said quietly, alerting the younger vampire to his presence. Spike looked at him warily and then retreated to the first corner he could find. 'He's forgotten who he is. Whatever they did to him, they've reduced him to just an animal.'

'How's he going to help us like this?' One of the slayers' asked.

Buffy shot her a sharp look and she quietened. The elder slayer looked at the vampire and a determined look set in on her face. 'We're gonna have to help him get better.'

'That could end up being impossible.'

'Finding him was impossible. But we did it. And you got him out. So this should be a doddle.' Buffy looked at Angel and then stepped forward towards Spike. The snarling started again and she stopped, looking confused.

'He can tell you're a slayer. He'll be terrified of you. He's made to be your prey.' Angel said, sighing. He stepped towards Spike, and held up his hands in defence. Spike watched him with cautious eyes, his gaze darting between him and Buffy. Angel vamped out and Spike growled. Angel growled back and the younger vampire went silent.

'Can you control him?' Willow asked.

Angel stood straight. 'He understands. I think. But we should keep him away from the girls anyway.'

Buffy nodded. 'Back to the basement then.'

****


	2. Chapter 2

Mere hours had passed since Willow had retrieved Spike from the hands of Wolfram and Hart. They had managed to secure him in the basement, with Angel standing guard. The younger vampire had reacted badly to all so far – the moment Buffy stepped near him, he would become aggressive, and since there was a large amount of Slayers in the house, they had decided it was the best course of action if they chained him up. Angel had offered his services since he was the only one who could enact a certain degree of control over him. Willow was the only other one the vampire had not acted violently towards, most likely because of the aura of power he could sense around her. She had elected to guard him at the times when Angel needed to feed or sleep.

Buffy had been reluctant to enter the basement, despite her initial joy at seeing his return. She hadn't spoken to anyone except to arrange round the clock attention and to co-ordinate all other activities with Giles. The watcher had asked to inspect the recently resurrected vampire, but had been denied, due to his volatile behaviour. He had agreed to research any known methods of restoring Spike's sanity and memories. He had been locked in the library with a small amount of volunteers since.

The first job on the agenda had been to clean and heal Spike's injuries. Willow had done as much as she could but insisted the rest of the healing had to be done naturally, by Spike's own capabilities. He looked a damn sight better than he had though, cleaned and dressed in a pair of Giles' old slacks and a t-shirt. He had done nothing to fight the job, and afterwards had retreated into the corner, as far as his bindings would allow. He had not moved or said anything since, despite Angel's attempts to the contrary. He could not even persuade the younger vampire to feed, at least not from the provided blood bag.

Willow had watched Angel's attempts to try and get the younger vampire to accept some sustenance and after a few tries, she had left to find Buffy. During the spell, the witch had picked up some unusual vibes, and had concerns about Spike's return.

'I'm not sure but it seems like they've kept something from me. Whether it's his soul, or him in essence, I don't know but it would explain the lack of reaction or recognition on his behalf. The demon is there, that much is clear. But I don't know about the rest of him.'

'So you're saying they have taken what makes Spike, well, Spike?' Giles asked, looking to Buffy, who remained silent in the corner, her arms folded across her chest. She was chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully and staring at a spot between the witch and the watcher.

'Pretty much. He's only the demon. I can't sense anything else in him. His aura indicates that something is trapped, either within him, or somewhere else. I can't suggest anything to help it.' The witch turned to her friend. 'I don't know what to do now, Buffy.'

The slayer sighed and dropped her arms. 'I guess I'll have to pay a visit to some people who might.' She looked up to Giles, a steely gaze replacing the stare from before. 'You know where the Wolfram and Hart headquarters are in London right?'

'I do, but I'm not so sure that would be a good idea, Buffy.' Giles said quietly, waiting for her rebuke.

'It's our only idea. I know you don't like Spike, but if this prophecy is true, we need him and we need him back in full irritating vampire mode. He's useless to us like this. And god knows how long Angel will be able to control him.' She looked at her watcher imploringly, hoping he could see that this was the only way. Reluctantly he nodded and pulled out an address book.

'Fine. But you are not going alone. You can take Lisa with you. She's the best we have here. And for heavens sake Buffy, be careful.'

-P-

The city was in chaos.

People were screaming, fighting, killing. Demons roamed everywhere and for the first time Buffy was truly grateful for the remote location of the mansion. The others were safe; being in the middle of the city was suicide. Luckily, herself and Lisa had managed to fight their way through without any major injuries and now they were stood in front of the London branch of Wolfram and Hart, seemingly the only untouched building in the area.

Buffy looked at Lisa, who nodded and followed her lead as the older slayer headed into the building. It was surreal. Outside, nightmares reigned and yet inside it was like a bright sunny, normal working day. People bustled to and fro, working like nothing was going on beyond the walls of the building.

A reception desk was ahead of them and Buffy went straight for it, not holding anything back.

'Whoever is in charge here – tell them the slayer has an issue she wants to take up with them.'

The receptionist smiled sweetly and looked up at her. 'Certainly Miss Summers. Mr Roberts has been expecting you.'

Buffy should have been taken aback but she wasn't. Of course they were expecting her. She'd stolen Spike from under their noses. They were probably pissed. She allowed herself and Lisa to be taken up to the top floor of the building, where they were lead into an extravagant office and offered coffee whilst they waited. Buffy had gritted her teeth and tried not to snarl a response at them, but it had failed. Although she had been rewarded with the fear of one employee backing away very quickly and leaving them to wait for the supposed Mr Roberts.

He was definitely not an imposing man, was her first thought as he strode in, dressed smartly in a business suit and with his hair slicked back. He wasn't very tall, and reminded her of Wesley with his looks. He looked plain, very charming, and Buffy knew immediately that her guard was staying up against this man. He might not look like much but he was as evil as they came.

'Miss Summers. I assume you are here about a certain William Pratt?'

She'd almost asked who that was then realised he meant Spike. 'You know damn well I'm here about Spike. I want to know what you have done to him and when you're going to fix it before I rip apart everyone in this building.' She could sense the shock at her words from the other slayer but the younger girl disguised it well, keeping her gaze fixed on the man seated before them.

'What we have done to him?' He laughed, a sound that would have been normal to any other person but something in it hurt Buffy's ears. She wanted to hit him. 'He did this all to himself. We merely kept him where he could not interfere in our plans.'

'Interfere? Seriously?' Buffy asked, narrowing her gaze at the smartly dressed man. 'You knew we would look for him. We know he is needed. You...'

'What we did, Miss Summers, is none of your concern.' He interrupted her, seeming slightly more scary in that moment as his gaze hardened. 'We cannot help you. William is gone. You have to deal with what is left.'

'I don't believe you.' The slayer spat out. Mr Roberts stood and walked around the desk.

'The only way to save that creature now is to get him to unlock whatever he has hidden away. Torture has a habit of doing that. Unfortunately, he was there a lot longer than Angelus and therefore it will be impossible for you to regain the creature you knew as Spike. He is dead. And he did it to himself. Save yourself the trouble and dust him.'

'You'd love that.' Buffy said, not finding him quite so scary now. He'd made her realise one thing. 'Because everything you just said made me realise that he can be brought back. You and your bosses know that and they are terrified it will work and we will bring you down.' She smiled, somewhat threateningly. 'You can tell the senior partners they can't have this world. Not as long as I am in it.' She motioned to Lisa. 'Good day Mr Roberts.' She headed for the door.

'Contrary to what you think Miss Summers...I am not lying. If you did succeed...how do you know it would really be him?' She turned, ready to rip into him but he was gone. Buffy stopped and looked at Lisa, then shrugged and followed the younger girl out of the deceptive building and back into the nightmarish streets of London.

-P-

'How is he?' Willow asked as she entered the room to find Angel trying to get Spike to feed again.

'Like a small child. He's refusing to feed, to even look at me. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up. He's going to starve.' The older vampire looked desperate. He gave it one more go to get Spike to feed but got no where. The blonde was sat with his back to them, huddled in the corner, shaking violently on occasion. 'He screams when he sleeps. Whatever they did to him...' Angel sighed. 'It was worse than what has happened to any of us.'

'He'll get better Angel.' Willow heard the falseness in her own voice. She didn't know that any more that he did.

'There's marks everywhere. When he lets me look...they must have killed him a hundred times or more. Those scars will never fade.' He ran a hand over his face. 'God knows about the psychological ones.'

The witch grimaced and glanced again to the blonde in the corner. She was so lost in her musings about healing him that she didn't notice the door open or sense Buffy's arrival until the slayer spoke.

'I need you to leave. Both of you. I'm going to try something. Something dangerous.'

Angel looked at her and then to the vampire, and then made to object. Buffy looked at him imploringly.

'If we don't get him back, we're dead anyway.'

There was no arguing with her this time. He wouldn't go far though, just in case Spike attacked, The vampire in question had bristled when she entered and was now growling openly in protest at her presence. Angel frowned but dutifully left her, taking Willow with him and leaving the slayer with the irate demon and words to be careful.

Buffy waited a few moments, upset at the visible hostility Spike was showing her, but determined none the less. She knew Angel would be close by but was hoping he was not needed. Spike wouldn't hurt her intentionally. And she was hoping to bring him back to himself before he could hurt her at all.

Her footsteps were cautious as she approached him and his growls only intensified as she did. He backed further into the corner, snarling, almost frothing at the mouth, his yellow eyes boring into her as she kept moving towards him. He stood, his chest heaving, his hands clawed talons at the walls, ripping wallpaper off as she came closer and closer. She reached out one hand and finally made contact with him, feeling that familiar spark as she touched his chest. His growl became exponentially louder and he flung a hand out to break the contact. It was not intended to harm, more to warn her off but seconds later her hand was back on his chest, and he was getting angrier by the second.

'Spike.' Buffy said, softly, wondering if he could hear her over his growls. But there was no response, no recognition. Only anger in those amber depths. She reached up from his chest, tracing the scars on his face. He froze, the growls softening. No one had touched him softly since his return, no one had attempted much besides feeding him and cleaning his wounds. An angry jagged scar ran down the side of his face, and Buffy touched it, whispering his name in almost reverence.

They'd never been this gentle with each other during their time. Only those few fleeting hours before the First had they been tender with each other. She knew he didn't remember but she did and she held those memories close as she willed him to recognise her.

All he was doing was staring at her, confused by the contact. A slayer was touching him and not killing him as his instincts told him she would. His demon was confused and still angry at the confinement in his chains. He pulled at them, wanting to touch her back. He didn't know why but her gentle touch on his skin made him want to do the same.

Buffy looked down, noticing him pulling at his chains. She moved to still him but the sudden movement set him off and the growling began anew. He pushed forward, sending her falling backwards with a yelp. The animal was angry again and she'd done nothing to calm him for long.

Spike snarled and roared, trying to get free. One of the chains was giving slightly, and he pulled at it further. The wall crumbled under his renewed vigour and one chain came free. It connected with Buffy's head as she was getting up from the floor and she found herself flung against the wall, blood running down the side of her temple, matting her hair to her forehead.

Then, silence.

The vampire sniffed the air, smelling the one thing guaranteed to set any vampire off. Slayer blood. Strong slayer blood.

The chains were gone and Buffy found herself being stalked by a hungry demon. She was dizzy – the heavy metal chain had clonked her good. She pulled herself up, using the wall for support and faced Spike. She didn't want to hurt him. But if he attacked she would have to defend herself.

She raised a hand as if to stop him from attacking her, flattening her palm in a "halt" motion. He stopped prowling and cocked his head to the side, and she almost cried at the familiar Spike gesture. Then he reached out and touched her hand. She realised then what he was looking at. The scars on her hand, the burn marks from the cave. He raised his own hand and traced the same scar on his flesh, looking back and forth in confusion.

The slayer hesitated. Then took a step forward. Spike growled almost automatically but was still captivated by the scars on his skin. Buffy reached out a hand and touched his scar, whispering to him as she did so.

'They're the same.'

He looked at her sharply. Then did something that would strike outsiders as unusual if they didn't know he was acting on primal instinct.

He sniffed her.

Like a dog would sniff another dog, except not at her butt, thank god. But he was smelling her. Maybe he was confused still and trying to connect the scent with the scars. But nothing happened. He grew closer, his face almost buried in the crook of her neck. She wasn't worried; she knew she could fight him off. She didn't panic when his fangs slid into her skin, not taking a huge amount of blood, just tasting her, testing her blood. She knew she wouldn't taste like family to him but maybe it would awaken something else.

It obviously had. He pushed her back, against the wall, still not taking any blood from her but his hands were roaming now and Buffy was getting hotter by the second. He was touching her everywhere, pressing into her and she threw her head back, savouring the sensations she thought she would never feel again after Sunnydale.

He wasn't growling anymore. He was almost purring. He pulled at her clothing and she returned the favour by pulling at his. She knew this wasn't wrong, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, and when they finally connected again like they had done so long ago, Buffy felt like a piece of herself had come home. She could finally admit to any one that she loved him and had missed him so much. Hell, she had admitted it to Angel only a few days ago.

Spike was moving now, more urgently. He had pulled his head away from her neck and for the first time, she could see him struggling to get rid of his game face. But it wasn't going. Flashes of blue through amber caught her attention and she kissed him hard, cutting her lips on his fangs. With a roar, he lunged for her neck again, but there wasn't any fear. He sank his teeth in and drew a couple of mouthfuls of her blood. The he growled possessively and fell on top of her.

She didn't move as he shifted and gathered her into his arms. The carpeted floor was surprisingly comfortable in his embrace.

And it didn't take long for him to start purring and lull her into a deep sleep.

-P-

There was fire everywhere. Inside and out burning his flesh away and destroying the precious memories of the past that he held dear. He knew he had been wherever he was for a long time but he could still remember things. Blonde hair, green and hazel flecks in her eyes, her small hands tracing his wounds when he was tortured by...something. He didn't want it to slip away. He didn't want to forget.

More pain stung him, searing his insides again and he screamed, desperately clinging to thoughts or memories. He didn't know which anymore but no longer cared. As long as there was something there. He had to keep it safe, protect it. Chesnut hair. Blonde hair. Sisters. Both dearer to him that his own flesh and blood. Red hair, brown hair. Scoobies. A boy he hated but would protect for her. The longing for acceptance for people that he held closer any vampire should.

Another stab, more fire, hatred from all around him. He was confusing the thoughts now. Losing some of them. This wasn't allowed to happen. He had to hide them from whatever was trying to steal them.

It wasn't as hard as he thought it was be. To hide it, hide inside himself and never let them get it. They couldn't have it. It wasn't his to give to them anymore.

He didn't know when he stopped feeling what they were doing. The torture they inflicted. But he didn't remember anymore. It was safe from them, from him. They couldn't steal anything. They could kill him and bring him back time and time again.

They wouldn't take his memories. And neither would he.

-P-

Buffy sighed, curling further up into a ball within the warm blanket she'd found. She turned up the volume on the tv and smiled as she heard Andrew's rather camp tone filter through the bad amateur video. An image of Xander and Anya appeared and they were arguing about the wedding that wasn't. A pang of sadness at the loss of Anya ran through her and her smile took a sad appearance for a moment and faded altogether when a conversation came on screen.

Andrew was obviously hiding in the bushes, watching Spike and Faith on the doorstep, sharing a cigarette. Her sister slayer was talking non stop about a topic Buffy had avoided with Spike that last year and the vampire had a grim look on his face.

_'Funny thing is, I've always been jealous of B, ya know?' The brunette slayer said, flicking ash from the end of her cigarette._

_Spike looked at her and piped up for what seemed like the first time in the conversation. 'Why's that?'_

_'Because of the way you look at her. The way Angel looked at her, or Riley or any goddamn guy for that matter.' Faith sighed and looked up at the sky. 'The guys who love her...they look at her like she is food to a starving man. I look at the way you look at her and...man I'd die for someone to look at me that way.'_

_The vampire frowned and then sighed, staring at the end of his own cigarette. 'I am a man starved. I once told her that being that close to her and not having all of her...even now I can't tear myself away. I would die a thousand deaths for her. I would suffer an eternity of torment just to see her smile. There is nothing on this earth I wouldn't go through or do to see her, or Dawn or any of those damn scoobies safe. They're part of her. Everything is part of her. I am only here for her. She's what makes the sun shine for me, even though it's killing me.' He stopped, realising who he was talking to. Faith looked at him sideways and then placed her hand on his knee._

_'I would give you that.' She said. 'But you wouldn't take it.'_

_Spike chuckled. 'I wouldn't. You're right.' He turned to the other slayer and smiled. 'Someday, someone will look at you like that. Someone will be for you like I am for her. But do me a favour yeah?' Faith nodded. 'Tell him. Don't be afraid. Don't hesitate.' He stood up and looked up at the sky himself, watching clouds settle in._

_'You never know how short life can be.' He whispered._

Static overtook the screen and Buffy realised she was crying. She wiped her eyes and pulled the blanket closer around her, feeling the vampire presence in the room.

Angel approached from the shadows.

'Willow told me what happened.' He said quietly, standing off to the side and placing a hand on the chair as he spoke. 'Between you and Spike. The whole thing.' He sighed and knelt down, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. 'I know...what I put you through...what you have been through. I can't pretend to understand it...but I know, he will never stop. No matter what he is now, if he never regains what he was...he'll never stop, Buffy. He'll protect you and love you with an undying devotion. With or without a soul. I never wanted to see it, never wanted to let you go. Even when I had moved on, I selfishly thought I could still be the one. But I'm not. He is.'

'I just want him back how he was.' Buffy said quietly, staring at the static on the screen.

'I know. And I think you will get him back. Even if we have to go to hell and back.' The slayer looked up at him and smiled, taking his hand.

'Thank you.'

Angel smiled and rubbed her hand gently. 'Are you going to come down and see him? He woke up a few minutes ago and I think he was confused when you weren't there.'

She nodded and stood, following the older vampire to the basement, where Spike was prowling, unchained and antsy. He looked up as she entered and almost bounded towards her, checking her over as if to make sure she was in one piece. She almost cried again at his actions and he looked panicked before she threw her arms around him.

Angel watched, knowing the younger vampire had a long way to come before he was himself again but confident Buffy was safe with him. As he turned to leave the room he noticed, that for the first time since Willow had brought him back, Spike was no longer in game face.

-P-

Three days had passed. Buffy had spent most of her time in the basement, trying to get Spike to be...well, Spike. Faith and Robin had turned up and were now working with gathering the slayers from their respective parts of the world. Giles and Willow were researching the prophecy, having left Buffy and Dawn to work on the Spike issue. Angel was prowling, gathering information from his sources where he could.

Three days and the world was getting worse. People were roaming the streets in gangs, demons killing randomly and in large numbers. Buffy had given up patrolling, finding many of the supposed foes she met on her patrols to be human corrupted by the coming evil. Television stations had mostly gone off the air, except for a program called Jeremy Kyle, which Giles insisted was the work of the devil anyway.

Nothing they could come up with was going to work. They had narrowed down the possible places of where man was created to three places, all in England, and with mystical connections. The Deeper Well was one, another was where Avalon was supposed to be, in the very heart of Cornwall and the other was a supposed dimension within a dimension in the heart of London, concealed for most of the existence of the human race. Giles had found this supposed location in a book but he was more concerned with the more west country sites, looking further into them. Angel had suggested that it was in the middle east they would need to look but Giles had put him in his place, citing that the focal point of the world going to hell was actually in the English capital. Further research had shown that Wolfram and Hart ran all of their business from a building in London, not their offices, but a building surrounded with more magical energy than six nuclear bombs.

Buffy had shown little or no interest, concerned more with the fact that without Spike, they would not be able to save the world anyway. She had worked with him, showing him photos, videos and trying everything and anything to get him to show more recognition than he did. He still growled at the slayers and only tolerated Angel and herself near him. He had not shown any more physical intimacy towards her, except for the random touches and various actions that she felt were more for his benefit to assure himself she was real.

If only she could convince herself of the same.

It had gone six in the evening and Spike had begun to stir as the sun came down when Dawn entered the room. The vampire had looked up, watching the young girl warily from the corner of the room but not making a sound. She had approached Buffy quietly, watching him back and smiling faintly as he narrowed his eyes.

'Buffy.' Dawn said, touching her shoulder and smiling as her sister looked up and away from Spike. 'Giles says he needs to talk to you. It's important.'

The slayer stood, shaking her head. 'I can't leave him.'

'It will only be for a few moments.' Dawn smiled. 'He hasn't gone for me before, I'm not a slayer so he doesn't care.'

'I just...' Buffy tried to argue but Dawn shook her head.

'Angel is right outside. I'll scream if Spike does anything threatening. Okay?' Buffy chewed her lip, staring at her sister before nodding slowly and leaving the room. Dawn watched her leave and then turned, suddenly finding herself face to face with Spike.

He stared at her and Dawn paled slightly, trying not to let her fear get the best of her. She repeated to herself that Spike would never hurt her, would never harm her in any way. It wasn't really working. She was about a second away from peeing her pants. But still he didn't move. He looked like he was studying her.

Then he reached up, running his hand over her hair, and then pulling it from its loose ponytail. He watched as her hair cascaded over her shoulders and then smiled.

'Chestnut.' He whispered and Dawn's mouth fell open. When he vamped out and pulled her to him, she didn't protest, knowing instinctively that he wouldn't not hurt her, knowing that when his fangs grazed her neck, he was doing what he had done with Buffy. He knew her blood. When he pulled away, blue eyes sparkling with recognition, Dawn started to cry.

Her cries brought Angel into the room. He saw the blood on her neck, but knew Spike hadn't attacked her. He moved over to them, and Spike looked at him and then pointed to Dawn, nodding slightly.

'Dawn.' he whispered, voice hoarse from disuse.

The girl collapsed to the floor and Spike frowned, obviously thinking he had done wrong. Angel was too busy gawping to notice when Buffy came running in, taking in the scene. The youngest vampire retreated back to his corner, repeating Dawn's name over and over again. Buffy pulled Dawn up from the floor and took in the graze on her neck, the pacing Spike and her sisters tearful face.

'What happened?' Buffy asked, worrying about both her sister and the vampire, who had stopped pacing and was watching her carefully. Dawn looked at her sister and smiled widely through her tears.

'He knows me.'

-P-

It kinda hurt. He'd never admit it to anyone but it did. He felt desolate now, cut off and unrecognised. By someone he'd always claimed to hate. Except he didn't. Not really. Spike was his Childe. In all manner of speaking. It had been his blood that brought the innocent and untainted William into his new way of existence. Now he could only elicit the basic reaction from the blonde he would call family. The only reaction the younger vampire could show was that of the submittal to his sire.

He had recognised Buffy and Dawn. He'd tasted their blood, recognised them as his family. When they known him minutes in comparison to the time Angel had spent with him.

_Wasn't you though, was it? It was Angelus. Maybe that's why his demon doesn't recognise you properly._

Only he didn't care about the demon. He sat with Buffy for hours, watching the sleeping vampire, watching her comfort him when his screams woke him. Watched her bathing his wounds and trying to encourage him to feed. Except that didn't work when anyone tried it. He refused to feed, almost like he was scared of the blood.

_That's what happens when you see too much of it. And if he's been in a dimension of Wolfram & Hart's making, he could have been there for a millennia, seeing nothing but his own blood._

Angel sighed and looked out of the window. It had been four days since they had retrieved Spike and he had made little progress, aside from his recognition of Dawn and Buffy. He refused blood, snarled at anyone who wasn't familiar to him. Well, pretty much everyone. It had also been four days since daylight had shown itself over the world. The clouds covered the sky, never relenting, plunging the human race into darkness. Things were getting ugly out there and there wasn't anything they could do until they had their champion back.

That had been him once, until he signed it away. But he didn't care about that. In the five years he had spent fighting alone, he had come to realise one thing; he not longer wanted his happily ever after. He wanted theirs. He wanted to see the people he loved happy, in their lives...alive and carrying on. And he was going to be the one to stick around to make sure they carried on. He didn't want to dust, didn't want to be human. How could he turn back after everything he had seen? The best way for him to redeem himself was to carry on, make sure his life had purpose in making those he loved safe.

But he needed Spike back to do that.

Giles had found more on the prophecy, cementing the need for the peroxide pest to recover. They were drawing ever closer to the end, and without their best fight back, they weren't going to get anywhere. The world would end. Demons would take over and the wolf, the ram and the hart would win. They would destroy everything.

They needed everyone.

Angel had only one idea left but he had to wait. Buffy had arranged to take a group of slayers out on a hunt, to scope out the buildings in the centre of London, where they suspected it would all go down. They had no idea how it was going to go down, only that there would be trials, challenges and a fight to the death most likely. That was how it normally went down anyway.

Dawn would be left with Spike. He was calm around her. And Angel would have to put her in danger to test his idea. He didn't want to do it and knew Buffy would more than likely kill him for it. But it might bring Spike back to them.

The door downstairs slammed shut and the dark vampire watched as Buffy and a group of seven girls left the property. Now was the time. He only hoped this went right.

-P-

Dawn looked up as the door to the basement opened and Angel slipped in. She had been reading a magazine, whilst Spike watched her from the corner. She had occasionally been talking to him but it had lacked response and she was feeling pretty down about the whole situation. She felt useless, even if he had recognised her the other night. She knew Buffy was upset that the only thing he had said since his return was her name, but he'd only said it once and had seemed to forget it since. But there was definite knowing in those blue eyes. The amount of times in the last few days she had found Buffy curled up with the vampire, meant that he knew both of them. Even if he couldn't voice it.

The older vampire approached her, his face full of regret. She panicked for a moment and dropped the magazine, facing him with concern on her face. When he muttered an apology, she was confused.

Then terrified as his hand locked around her throat. He pulled her flush against his chest so she was facing Spike and then whispered in her ear.

'I'm hoping this works. If it looks like it is going bad, leave the room but don't call for help.' Dawn was stricken and thoroughly wigged out. Especially when Spike rose from his corner, snarling, vamped out and snapping his fangs at them.

_Oh god...I am not going to pee my pants...what the hell is Angel doing?_

The blonde drew closer and roared at Angel and the older vampire snarled back, his own human guise slipping, and he hoped that the noise didn't bring anyone running. They were used to the vampire's screams, so hopefully they would attribute it to that.

Spike was getting too close now, so Angel pushed Dawn away from him, towards the door and she watched from a safe distance, shaking at the sudden change in the room. The two vampires circled, snarling, hissing at each other, until Angel threw the first punch. He knocked Spike off his feet and Dawn shrieked. Spike looked at her quickly, almost smirking in her direction and she suddenly knew what Angel was doing. She'd read about it before somewhere but couldn't quite grasp how it was going to help.

The younger vampire flew for his Sire, knocking him off balance and to the floor. They scrambled for the upper hand, cutting into each other, biting, clawing and punching, until Angel finally got the upper hand, pinning Spike face down underneath him, his wrists clasped together. Spike struggled, snarled, blood dripping onto the floor from a particularly brutal cut above his eyebrow. Angel looked up to Dawn, his vampire eyes pleading with her. She nodded in silent understanding and left the room, having no need to see anything that happened next. Angel had it under control.

As soon as the lock clicked into place on the door, Angel reared back and sank his fangs into the younger vampire, draining what little blood he had left. Spike cried out and then whimpered, going lax under Angel's weight and assault. He yelped as he felt the last of his strength slipped and Angel let go, rolling the younger over and looking down at him. The human mask was back in place and they were both covered in blood. Angel sat back, straddling the blonde, and for a moment felt himself growing aroused, slipping back into old ways he no longer deemed necessary.

Spike choked a breath out and looked up at Angel. A ghost of knowing flashed in the blue depths of his eyes and the brunette smiled, ripping his own shirt off before making a shallow cut on his neck. He pulled Spike up to his knee, knowing he was too weak to stand. For a second they knelt together, bare chest to bare chest, until Angel nodded an approval and pulled Spike forward, until his lips met the cut on Angel's neck. He had no fight left in him and began to drink to the much needed Sire's blood. After a few seconds, the demon took over again and Angel felt his childe's fang slip into his skin. He allowed Spike to take his fill and revelled in the intimacy he had missed for so many years.

When Spike pulled away, he waited for his Sire to get to his feet, and then followed rank. He stared at the brunette for a good long time, Angel picked up the blood bag, discarded from another attempt at feeding, and drained it, sinking back against the wall. He was tired, usual for a dominating show like that. He wasn't sure if it had worked, but he knew one thing at least now.

Wolfram and Hart didn't keep any part of Spike. He'd buried himself for protection. And Angel had no idea how to make it better.

-P-

Buffy returned from patrol to find a shaken Dawn in the living room, nursing a cup of cocoa. Her attention was grabbing immediately and she ran to her sister.

'What happened? Is Spike okay? Are you okay?'

'I don't know. I left him with Angel...they were doing a vampire thing. A domination ritual. Angel was trying to provoke him, I think to make him remember. But I left them an hour ago and there's been no sound.' Dawn looked up at her sister with pale and drawn features. The slayer looked frightened for a second before her face set into a steely mask of determination. She stormed from the room, ignoring the pack of confused slayers by the front door. In seconds she was downstairs, opening the basement door, not thinking about what she could find.

And totally not expecting what she did.

Angel was shirtless, sat against the wall with his legs out straight. And on his lap was an equally shirtless Spike, curled into the fetal position, sleeping peacefully for the first time in nearly five days. The older vampire looked up, smiling weakly at Buffy, who approached slowly and quietly. She sat down beside them, watching as Angel stroked Spike's hair gently, making the younger vampire purr in his sleep.

_I remember when he did that for me. Before I lost him._

She smiled at Angel. 'Does he remember anything?' She whispered, but Angel shook his head.

'I figured out what he did though.' The brunette looked saddened as he glanced down at the sleeping childe. 'He must have been there for so long...so long he buried himself, hid under the demon so that they couldn't hurt him anymore. He's in there. Just...we have no way of bringing him out.'

Buffy's face fell. 'Spells won't do it, will they? It has to be something he does on his own.' Angel nodded, continuing his stroking motion. 'Do you need to go and feed? I can stay here with him.' She whispered, her hand reaching out to ghost over Spike's face. He looked so young when he slept. Angel smiled gratefully and gently shifted. Spike awoke, and looked up, whimpering at the loss of his sire but seemingly satisfied when Buffy took his place. He settled back down straight away. Buffy looked down at him, and then to the retreating back of Angel. 'Did he feed?'

The vampire nodded and turned for a brief moment. 'He won't drink blood bags. He'll drink from me though.' He paused for a moment. 'I wouldn't encourage him to drink from you though, before you get any ideas. He may not know when to stop. It's okay for me, I can take it.' He smiled and left the basement, hearing Buffy talking to the blonde as he made his way up the stairs, deflated in himself for not being about to bring his childe back,.

-P-

Giles looked over the paperwork, frowning at his discoveries. The reconnaissance from the trip to where the battle was supposed to take place had concerned him greatly. It seemed the demons knew it was the pivotal position in the fight and had created a fortress of sorts to keep the "good guys" out. The magicks were strong and they would need more than just Willow to bring their defences down. Buffy and the army of slayer would be facing nightmarish creatures, the likes of which they had never faced before. He had no idea what would happen when they breached the walls and went into the heart of the biggest evil on earth. He could not make any assumptions, and they had no way of researching it.

All he knew was that time was drawing short.

The skies had been dark for days. The sun had gone. London was deserted, the streets littered with the remnants of the humans that had fled. The world was in chaos and the fires of evil were consuming everything they touched. Humans were dying left, right and all over the place, leaving the demons to take everything. Every night for the last week, the house and its occupants had been under attack. They had lost three slayers already and dozens were injured. Allies were arriving all the time. Faith had sent word from Cleveland, before communications completely collapsed, telling them that they were holding their posts and that the Hellmouth was more active than previously seen in Sunnydale.

The world was ending.

And although he knew how to stop it, he knew he would lose almost everyone in the fight.

But it was time. He had to tell Buffy, and the others, what would be needed to seal the gates of Hell forever.

-P-

For a second it was like the old days.

Just a second.

Then the future, or possible lack of, rushed back at them.

Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Xander and Willow sat in Giles' office, reeling from the news he had given them. The news that most of them would most likely die.

He had explained it, making sure every detail was clear to them. The battle strategy was crystal – the slayers fight, the witches destroy the defences and they drive them back. But only Buffy, Spike, Angel and Dawn were to enter the building. It was imperative that only those four went. Xander had protested, making his feelings on the subject clear to all. He wasn't happy about letting them face the danger alone. But Willow had pacified him, saying he was needed for the more important stuff, to keep the slayers and witches going. It would be a long fight, And none of them knew what laid inside the building. All Giles could provide them with was the required joining spell.

Angel had spoken up at this point. He recognised the ritual involved.

'It's a familial claim. Means we have to join together as a clan, and it's not a one time deal. It'll be forever. We'll be linked by blood.' He said, looking purposefully towards Dawn and Buffy. Dawn scrunched her nose up and Buffy looked blankly concerned. The younger Summers grasped her sisters hand.

'There won't be any creepy side effects will there?' Buffy asked, her tone low and even. 'No telekinesis, knowing each other too well and stuff?' Angel shook his head, smiling.

'Fairy tales.' He whispered. 'If anything, this will benefit us all. We'll be able to sense each other, will know if any of us are in danger. Kind of like a radar.'

'Okay.' Dawn said, looking at the vampire and then to her father figure. Giles smiled weakly at her, and folded his hands together.

'Time is of the essence here. This is all supposed to happen soon, so the sooner we get in there and get on with it the better. The world won't wait for us, and Hell certainly won't either. We need to prep the slayers, get the witches ready. Willow, I trust you have the required spells?' The red head nodded.

'I can have the girls ready in the morning.'

'Okay then.' Buffy said, standing up, resuming the position of general that she had taken the year before in Sunnydale. 'Then we're good to go at 0800?' She looked to Giles for confirmation and was glad to see the fatherly pride swell up in him, as it seemed slayer and watcher were finally on the same page once more.

'0800 it is, Buffy.' He stood up.

'What about Spike?' Xander asked. 'If he's intergral and still all looney tunes…'

Angel shook his head. 'I don't think it will be a problem. He already recognised us, and with the….I can control him.'

'He'll protect me at all costs.' Dawn said, 'I know he will.'

'Til the end of the world.' Buffy whispered, and smiled at her younger sister, brushing the hair from her eyes.

-P-

'Do you think we'll make it?' Angel asked, approaching quietly as Buffy sat in the chair and watched a fully healed Spike sleep.

The house was silent, the tension palpable. Dawn had wanted to stay down with her, but Buffy had told her to sleep, no way of knowing what they were going up against the following day. She left her sister sleeping, and had come down to the basement, finding Spike practically comatose, his soft snores making her giggle.

'Why does he snore?' Buffy asked, ignoring the question she didn't have an answer to.

Angel smiled and took the seat next to her. 'He was always a little more human than the rest of us.'

'I want him back Angel.' She missed the flinch in the older vampire's face. It still hurt him. But he knew that above anything, he had left her. They were over, gone, a happy memory in the past….mostly. 'I sit here and watch him, and he's so quiet. Spike was never quiet.' Never a truer word spoken. Angel grimaced and reached over, grasping Buffy's hand in his.

'Whatever we have to face….Spike's too damn stubborn not to fight his way back. Especially for you.' He smiled at her and she smiled back, tears glistening in her eyes. A sudden noise from the vampire in the corner distracted them and they watched as Spike kicked out, fought for a second against an invisible enemy and then curled into a ball, returning to the soft snores. Buffy giggled, a memory coming back to her. Angel looked at her with curiosity in his gaze.

'He's drowning in footwear.' She grinned, not thinking that Angel would get the joke. The giggles turned into sobs and she dropped the brunette's hand, leaning into her palms and crying hard. 'I can't lose either of you. I can't lose Dawn. Giles, Xander, Willow…I just can't. I've lost too many and I'm expected to be so strong.' Her shoulders shook and Angel pulled her from her chair and into his lap as she proceeded to make a large wet patch on his borrowed t-shirt. He put his arms around her and held her, closing his eyes against his own tears for ones he had lost.

He didn't expect fingers to pry her from his grasp as the blond vampire awoke and took Buffy from him, settling back onto the floor with the petite slayer wrapped in his embrace. Buffy snuggled against his chest, and Angel smiled as he looked on, grabbing a blanket and placing it over the entwined couple. Spike watched him, a defiance in his eyes, daring Angel to challenge him. The older vampire knew then.

There was no keeping a bad vamp down.

-P-

The skies were no longer dark, but neither was the sun shining down on the group of slayers and witches advancing on the capital. In the back alleys of London, a large building stood alone in a courtyard of stone. The building itself looked plain, un-awe-inspiring. Until you took into account the hordes of demons surrounding it, the presence of dark magick in the air and the blackness that filled your lungs as you approached the outside. The slayers all felt it, the witches visibly baulked at the taste of the foul evil in the air. Angel vamped out, feeling the evil permeate his bones in an unpleasant manner, tempting him with promises of the future if he switched sides. But he knew his place now, and he knew that this was the right side. Beside Buffy, Dawn and Spike, who was freaking out in a major way as they closed the gap between them and the demons.

The blonde slayer held up her hand, halting the position of the army. She looked to Willow, who nodded, and signalled to the rest of the wiccans, who took their places atop the buildings around the battlefield. The demons, some standing as high as the buildings themselves, all armed to the teeth and looking like something out of the Lord Of The Rings, yelled, made noise, snarled at their opposition. The slayers held their ground, weapons readied.

Buffy looked around at her troops, then stepped out in front of them.

'I'm not making a long speech. You all know what is at stake. The object is to clear the path so we can get into the building. Then we'll stop it.' She looked towards Giles and smiled. The elderly watcher stood next to Andrew, who was doing himself proud for a change and holding himself together. Giles returned her smile and she hefted the scythe into a battle stance.

Then she turned and charged.

**(AN: I think I know where I'm going with this now. I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up, but it shouldn't be more than a month. Unfortunately, with Christmas coming up, gotta work two jobs and also Halloween, which is my Christmas, so I'll try my best)**


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, I'm well aware I've been a nasty person and left it AGES to update this. Hopefully I'll get a bit better at this, but please forgive me for since I last posted I've gotten married and there's a mini-me on the way, so lots of RL to deal with LULZ. I'm poking my muse with a stick to pursue my remaining uncompleted stories, just for you guys this is a short one for now, need to build up the momentum a little!

**This story takes place after the end of ATS. LA was just the start. Hell in the alleyway has become Hell on Earth and no one can predict the outcome. Only a prophecy holds the clue to what can stop it.**

So far – Angel and Illyria have escaped from the final battle, or what they thought was the final battle, and have travelled to England, meeting up with Giles, Buffy and the massive amounts of Slayers. They have rescued Spike from W&H and are now preparing for the real final battle against the evil of the world and indeed, the universe. A prophecy sits between them and success.

**AN:** I made a boo boo in the last chapter and said Faith and Robin had turned up, when they haven't. I'm also not featuring Illyria massively in this story, and it doesn't end with just the apocalypse….but then it never does in BTVS. Once again, apologies for the late postings xxx

**Disclaimer:** All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

-P-

It didn't take long for the demons to respond. Buffy had run towards the first grotesque looking creature and decapitated it without a second glance, taking down four or five more before one particularly large demon landed a punch on her. Which was all the encouragement Spike needed to stop spazzing out at the atmosphere around him and run snarling towards the demon that had hit the Slayer, game face in place and fists ready to go to work. Dawn was back to back with Xander, both of them wielding swords with an almost expert proficiency, creating their own little pile of demon corpses. Angel and Giles fought hard against their own opponents, both warily watching the Slayer and her vampire up ahead. Thousands of demons and other creatures were advancing upon them now.

The sky was burning. There was no sun, nothing in the sky but it flared a brilliant reddish orange. Buffy wasn't sure if that was the evil things causing it or Willow and her witches, who were currently killing anything they could. Illyria was cutting her own little swath through the demons, ignoring everyone else in the fight. Everywhere slayers and demons were fighting, falling and Buffy realised how much bigger this was in comparison. If they didn't finish it this time, it was the end.

Another large demon rushed her, this one having ownership of an axe about the size of her, and she ducked, whirling around to find the demon turning for a second go. A roar had her jumping a little and worrying about an attack from behind when she saw a familiar shape go flying above her head. Spike had jumped and landed clear in the demons face, punching a hole through its skull, coating himself in blood and brains as the demon practically exploded in front of her. Buffy pulled a face then started towards her next opponent, laughing slightly as Spike outpaced her, flashing her a trademark grin. She knew he was still as he had been, and he was just revelling in the fight as he always had done.

The fight raged on and several slayers retreated due to injury. Giles and Angel had taken up protective stances around Dawn, and were struggling to keep up to the blonde duo. As it stood, they were a good two hundred metres from the complex they needed to break into and hell only seemed to be getting angrier. The beasts were vicious and the city appeared to be imploding around them as bomb-like sounds filled the air and screams from human and inhuman mouths alike mingled with the sounds of battle.

Spike was racking up an impressive kill count, his fight being poetry in motion. He had no serious injuries and was causing havoc with the enemy, laughing at his own ability to toy with them and destroy them in minutes. Buffy would have loved to have stood and watch but she was holding her own against the creatures that swarmed her. Now, with the crowd thinning, she began to see a bit more hope for the side of good.

Suddenly, clouds gathered from all around and the heavens opened, pouring rain down onto the world. Buffy looked up at Willow, who shrugged and indicated it was not her doing. Rain wasn't going to harm any of them, so maybe the PTB were finally doing something to help. The Slayer plodded on, swinging the scythe left and right, leaving a trail of bodies as she followed her glee filled vampire on his killing spree.

A scream from behind had them both pausing and Angel appeared from a throng of demons, carrying a nearly unconscious Dawn. Spike ripped the head off of his previous opponent and ran towards his Sire, panicking at the sight of Dawn bleeding from the temple. Buffy took out three demons in one hit and then motioned towards the entrance of the complex, almost in sight. She looked up, spotting the witches not too far away, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

'Willow!'

The red headed witch, whose hair was slowly turning white at the roots, turned sharply and aimed her splayed hands towards the door. A burst of energy and the path was cleared, demons thrown to the side. Buffy knew it would buy them only seconds but it seemed to not matter as the two vampires and their cargo sped past her, and she ran to keep up. The door was shut as they drew closer, and Spike increased his speed, ramming himself into and through the door almost effortlessly, with Angel and Buffy hot on their heels.

And there was silence.

The door reformed itself, and the battle from outside could not be heard. The quartet were stood in a vast hallway of grey stone, empty apart from a single fountain in the middle, which seemed to be made of thin air, the water was supported by nothing as it sprayed six foot into the air, coming back down to the pond in a graceful arc. Buffy stood for a moment, worry for her friends outside consuming her, until a soft keening made her turn. Angel was cradling Dawn in his arms, using a ripped piece of t-shirt to cleanse the wound on her head. She was breathing and simply unconscious, but Spike was the one making the noise as he fussed over her. Buffy approached their side and noticed that Spike was holding his arm at a funny angle.

'Spike.' She said, quietly, as the hall was giving her the wiggins and she didn't feel like it would be a good thing to speak loudly. He winced as he moved closer and she frowned, holding him steady as she knelt beside him. 'Let me check you over, okay? Dawn is fine.' He looked at her blankly, sending worried glances towards the young brunette. Buffy took advantage of his distraction and snapped his dislocated arm back into place. He growled and snapped at her, then retreated as he saw the look on her face. He bent his head in submission and then crawled to his sire, acting for all the world like a toddler that had been told off.

Dawn whimpered and opened her eyes, struggling to sit up as Angel held her. 'My head, ouch. What fell on me?'

'Giles did.' Angel said, catching Buffy's eyes. The slayer looked beyond worried. 'He's okay, he just lost his footing.' Buffy relaxed and then tensed again as a sound echoed from the end of the hallway. All four fighters stood up, Spike taking on a defensive stance and growling loudly, until Buffy shushed him.

Silence. Then a single bang.

Nothing else.

Angel edged closer, touching Buffy's shoulder lightly. 'We need to do the bonding ritual, now.' He said quietly and then all four looked up in shock as a man materialised from the fountain, clearing his throat. Two of the party recognised him and sorrow shot through both of them.

Wesley Wyndham-Price smiled sadly back, smoothing the front of his suit down and then shaking his head. 'I can only wish it were that easy, old friend.'

-P-


	4. Chapter 4

I think I know where I'm going with this one now. Fingers crossed eh?

Disclaimer: All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

-P—

'Wesley?'

Buffy's voice was small and held an incredulous note. Angel just stared sadly at his former friend, while the Key frowned, trying to place the name and face. Spike simply growled, a repeat of his constant behaviour the last few days. As a pet dog would do, he was getting very concerned and just a little agitated by all the new faces and threatening behaviour people were displaying. On the other hand, if this one wanted to fight too, he had no problem with that.

'Unfortunately so, Buffy. I have to say you are looking rather well.' He took a couple of steps forward, to be reward with further, and somewhat louder, growling from Spike.

'Angel said you were-' Buffy started, only to be cut off by the former watcher.

'Dead, yes, well, I am. But the contract we all signed with Wolfram and Hart goes beyond death, as Angel well knows.' Another step. Louder growls. Wesley frowned. 'Does he not have a mute button?'

Buffy shrugged. 'He finds you to be a threat.'

Wesley nodded. 'Ah well, I am not. I have refused to take corporeal form you see, but the Senior Partners still insisted I play my part. I am here to merely guide, and oversee. I cannot interfere with anything that happens here. As much as I wish I could help you, my contract dictates otherwise.' He smiled sadly again and glanced at Angel, who stepped forward.

'Wes…I'm so sorry.'

The former watcher held up a hand. 'Nothing to be done now Angel. I knew, especially, what I was getting into. I died for the greater good and now I am enslaved to the greater evil. They will dispose of me once they have no further use.' He motioned to the door. 'No one can leave until this matter is dealt with.'

'They know they're going to lose right?' Dawn said, folding her arms over her chest. 'All we have to do is this ritual and time stops for the bad guys.'

Wesley shook his head. 'As I said, Miss Summers, if only it were that easy.'

The room melted.

That was what it seemed like to Buffy anyway. One minute she was stood there with her sister, her first love and her current love, who had not stopped growling for at least fifteen minutes, and then she was in what could only be described as a vortex. Only it was silent. And she wasn't alone. A tall coloured woman stood opposite her, flawless honey skin and delicate features, wearing a tank top and jeans. She had a disarming smile plastered across her face, which served to get Buffy's back up in a big way.

'Hi.' The woman said cheerfully.

'Er…..hi.' Buffy replied, keeping a good grip on her scythe.

'You won't need that, sugar. I'm not real. I'm just here to, well, introduce the show.' The lady put her hands on her hips and wiggled a bit in a very confusing manner.

'Where are the others?' The slayer demanded, looking around. All she could see around her was white and she frowned. She couldn't even sense the vampires.

'They're…elsewhere. I could say they're safe but I could be lying. But then, in our profession, who'd ever be safe right?' The woman laughed. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

'You're a slayer.' She stated.

'First prize, babydoll. My name's Nikki Wood. Your honey Is the one that took me right out of the game.'

'You're not real then. Nikki Wood wouldn't be enslaved to the baddest of the bad, even in death.' Buffy snarled, raising the scythe towards the figure. The woman's smiled faded and she grimaced.

'I said you wouldn't be easy to fool. But then, you're THE slayer, aren't you. Buffy Summers, Legend Amongst Monsters.' The figure shimmered and changed, becoming a well muscled figure in a suit, his hair cropped short in a professional style, and his face set in a grim expression. 'My name is Lindsay.'

'Isn't that a girls name?' Buffy retorted.

'Haha. Looks like you'll be just as much fun as Angel was.' He motioned towards her. 'You want to know whats going on here? You won't win, that's the ending. You won't get to see your friends or your precious damn vampire again. And we all died for damn nothing. Your precious Angel murdered me in cold blood, as he has done countless others, and don't get me started on Spike. You really want to bond with those two?'

Buffy frowned. So this was the plan? They tell her all the bad things her vampires have done and she caves? Not likely. She knew how much blood those two had on their hands and it didn't matter, she was always love both of them, albeit in different ways. 'They've changed.' She stated, shrugging his statement off.

Linsday scoffed. 'They've changed.' He mimicked her voice. 'Not two weeks ago, your former had me shot. For no good reason.'

'You're looking and acting pretty evil to me.'

'I wasn't heading that way. I got out, I quit, and I helped him with the final go round. But no, he gets his green friend to kill me and I end up back as a Wolfram lacky because of that stupid contract! Well, you know what? I'm beyond caring for this world. Angel took everything from me trying to save it and now? I'm gonna thoroughly enjoy watching the end. Especially if it mean watching him suffer.' He cleared his throat. 'Well, now that's off my chest, we'll get on with the show.'

Buffy had folded her arms, still clutching the scythe tightly, but she had an expression on her face of complete boredom. 'Really? You're done whining, cos I'm sick of hearing it. Just watch me kick your ass.'

Lindsay smiled. 'Goodbye Buffy.'

And the vortex disappeared.

-P—

Dawn raised her eyes, searching her surroundings for her companions. But it seemed she was totally alone, in what looked like a school building. The walls were covered with the products of various projects by students, writing from the previous lesson left on the chalk board, but other than the telltale signs of previous occupation, the room was empty. She moved to the door and twisted the knob, finding it locked. Looking through the vertical window chilled her to the bone, as there was nothing but blackness beyond the room. She backed away and ran to the first window, which was covered by blinds but looked like it had sunlight coming from behind it, only to open it and find the blackness continued. The Key took a few steps backwards, her eyes wide.

Then she spotted him.

Sat at the desk with his feet casually thrown up and his hands behind his head, in a position she'd often seen him relaxing in, in his office at home, was Hank Summers, the man who was her father, real or not.

'Daddy?' He smiled and stood up.

Dawn watched him as he sighed and shook his head. 'I could say "princess" and hug you, but we both know I'm not your father Dawnie. You weren't even real. I've never even met you.' He smiled broadly. 'Doesn't mean we can't be friends now, does it?'

'You're not real. You're a ghost, like Wesley.' Dawn said, frowning and folding her arms in her petulant teenage manner. Hank laughed.

'No, I'm not real. But I'm not a ghost. I'm not dead, so I can't be a ghost. I'm just here to show you a few home truths.' He stepped towards her, gesturing at the walls, which had previously shown schoolwork and now showed pictures, snapshots of her memories, time spent with Spike and her sister over the years. All the happy moments, laughing and dancing, some singing and mucking about with Spike during the summer from hell. She looked at them all, knowing exactly where he was going to push the subject.

'They aren't real. Your memories. The feelings your "sister" ' He raised his fingers in quotation 'and that vampire have, are completely faked. Think they would have given a fuck about you if they had met you when you first popped into existence? Know how happy your sister was before you became her biggest responsibility. Christ, if she hadn't had you to burden her down, she could have had happy relationships with everyone else. And Spike? Spike could have gone running after she died, not worrying about any obligation. Oh wait, if you hadn't been there, she wouldn't have died. If she hadn't been forced to feel something for you, she wouldn't have died.' He smirked. 'You're the unreal one here, _Dawnie. _You're the figment. The burden no one asked for and no one wanted.'

Dawn watched him, her eyes darting the photos as they showed images of Buffy alone and Spike too, being happy without her before she'd "existed". Tears welled in the corners of her eyes until specific memories popped into her head. Spike watching over her, when he hadn't had to, Buffy telling her she loved her, that she was made out of her and a part of her. She remembered the Scoobies and Giles, Tara, all the people she'd known. Her mom, telling her that even if she wasn't her daughter for real, she was still theirs and precious to them.

And she smiled.

'Keep trying.'

Hank snarled and threw a table to the side, making Dawn shriek and dart for the door, regardless of whether it was locked.

'You know why I never came to visit? Cos deep down I knew. Those sparkling blue eyes were nothing to do with me. You weren't mine and you weren't Joyce's. You were forced on us and I was dealt with a fuck load of memories that I didn't want. No one wanted you.'

'You're lying. I know Spike. He hasn't the patience to put up with something he doesn't care about. Even for Buffy. He spent all that time with me. Even though he's completely conkers now, he remembers me, loves me and protects me. It's blood. Memories are nothing, it's blood that's important.'

'Oh and blood is certainly important to him isn't it?' Hank smiled again, his teeth white in the growing darkness swallowing the room. The pictures changed again, showing scenes of bloodshed and murder, moving with their occupants and the mayhem created behind them. 'I guess if knowing you're just a fake thing isn't going to do the trick, you should see what you're really aligning yourself with.'

Dawn frowned and was about to ask him what he meant, when the room exploded behind him and consumed her whole.

-P—

Angel and Spike stood alone in the hall, the younger of the two snarling at the surroundings, wondering where the two females had gone. Angel put a hand on his shoulder in a attempt to calm him down, but it made no difference to the irate vampire. Spike was stuck in game face and backing away from the brunette, who was urgently trying to calm him down. Without warning, Spike was snatched from him sight and dragged snarling into the wall behind him.

The older vampire shouted for the blonde but heard no response for several seconds, and then rushed to the wall, trying to feel where the weakness was that had taken his family. A giggle distracted him and he turned around, seeing the Slayer in front of the fountain.

'You're adorable when you're confused.'

'Buffy.' Angel sighed in relief and then moved towards her, only then noticing, she was wearing different clothes than before and the wounds she had carried were gone. 'You're not Buffy.'

'Oh I am. Enough of her to know the truth anyways.' She moved towards him, running a hand down his chest. He stared at her bewildered. 'Oh, Angel,' she whispered in a breathy voice. 'You were my first….everything. I loved you so much.' She smiled, pulling her hand away as if burnt. 'But you'd never match up to him. He is so much more than you isn't he? Fought for his soul, wasn't cursed with one. Stayed with me, while you ran like a kicked puppy with your tail between your legs.' She moved away from him. 'Oh and the sex….my god, that man rocked my world more than you ever could. If you began to know all the nasty things he did to me? You'd combust.'

Angel snarled, hands fisting at his sides. "Buffy" smirked and looked him up and down.

'So really, you were just second best weren't you. Except when you were Angelus. He knew he was the best, Spike always looked up to him, no matter how much he hated you….you were the master. You were the top of the food chain. Then you got your _soul_' she spat the word in disgust' and you went all soft. Second best to a fledge. No wonder I turned to him for what you couldn't handle.'

He'd stopped snarling, and was laughing. At the point she'd shown disgust at his soul, she'd shown that she truly wasn't the Slayer he would always love. 'You're pathetic. Yeah, I was the best. Always will be. I taught that boy everything he knew. Especially what he knows in the bedroom, baby. Maybe I just got bored with the little girl.' He stalked towards her. 'If you're trying to get me to turn, it won't work. I'm here to protect my family, whether it's by blood yet or not. You won't win here.'

"Buffy" lunged for him and scored his face with her nails. The cut burned, as if someone had poured holy water into it and he hissed.

'Fine. Enjoy eternity in hell. You can spend some quality time with your charming family.'

The floor dropped out from underneath him and he fell into the darkness. It took forever to hit the bottom and it was pitch black when he finally came back to his sense. A snarling in the dark made him turn until his eyes adjusted and he saw Spike fighting against the shadows, trying the escape the bars he had been entrapped in. Angel found himself in a similar cage and pulled experimentally at the bars, finding no weakness. Spike suddenly seemed to notice him and growled in acknowledgment, to which Angel replied with a throaty noise.

Lights flooded them from all sides and showed the rest of the room. It was mile high with bodies, blood and gore everywhere. Spike went quiet for a few seconds and started screaming, and Angel shut his eyes against the scene. The smell of the death and carnage in the room permeated his every sense. The worst thing was…..

He recognised each one of the dead people in the room. They were his. His and Spike's victims.

Spike still screamed.

-P—

I'm gonna carry on with this as quickly as I can, going to stick to the shorter chapters of two thousand words odd. It's not going to be an epicly long fic, but I want to get a point across. Still trying to figure out what it is but we will get there!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

**Warnings: **There isn't any explicit actions in this chapter but there is some verbal taunting describing the actions. It's not overly bad but if it offends, please don't carry on.

-P—

Spike screamed.

He screamed with all the power he could muster, his hands fighting against the shadows. His demon face melted away and his blue eyes showed so much fear as Angel watched him, desperately wishing he could help the younger vampire. Suddenly, a movement caught his eye, and his gaze shifted to several of the decimated corpses which began to move and jerk about. His eyes widened as he watched, straining against the bars as the mangled human bodies dragged themselves towards Spike, who continued to scream and back away. Hands with fingers missing and bloodied stumps reached through the bars of his cell and grabbed at him, clawed at him. Disjointed voices accused him and the vampire's screams faded into whimpers as he sobbed, trying to get as far away as possible.

Angel watched, dumbstruck, unable to help, his only aide to the blonde was to shout for them to leave him alone. But his voice fell on….well, dead ears. He could only watch as they pulled him forward and a hand plunged into Spike's abdomen, rooting around as if searching for something. Then a blinding light filled the room and Angel had to shield his eyes from the harshness of it, and Spike's screams started anew.

Then everything went quiet and the room was empty, the corpses gone. The bars were gone too, and Spike lay unconscious on the floor, his body seemingly untouched aside the injuries he sustained in battle before they had entered this accursed place. Angel scrambled over to Spike, running his hands over the other to check, for what he didn't know, but he needed to check.

Spike didn't stir and that worried Angel more than he could say. Spike was never quiet, never still. Even in his sleep he breathed, but now, he was like a statue.

'What did you do?' The older vampire whispered, his hands ceasing their check and one lingering to stroke the deathly still vampire's hair.

A bang sounded and the room was plunged into darkness for seconds. When the light came back, Angel was in game face, crouched protectively over Spike. Darla sat in a chair opposite him, laughing at his predicament. She was dressed elegantly, as she always had been, perfect make up, perfect nails, not a hair out of place. Definitely his Sire. In looks anyway. He snarled and stood straight.

'You're not Darla.' She laughed even louder and stood up, moving towards him.

'Actually, I am. That whole bringing me back from the dead? Turns out, Wolfram and Hart kinda own me now. Just like they'll own you….well, pretty soon, my boy. Death is never going to be the end for us.' She smiled that beautiful smile she'd always had. 'Your little crazy vamp and your Slayer slut? They'll do nothing but bring you down, baby. You're not going to win this fight.' She flicked her hair out of her eyes and then folded her arms.

'You're not corporeal.' Angel suddenly realised. Darla stopped. He'd figured that out pretty quickly. 'You would always touch me. You'd always taunt me. And this time….just words Darla? That all they gave you?'

She snarled. 'You think you can win this, Angelus? I guarantee you won't!'

He smiled. 'I think we will.' He turned on his heel, ignoring the apparition of his Sire. He knelt down beside Spike and pulled him up, holding him in his arms. He smiled over his shoulder at the blonde female and then sank his fangs into Spike's neck, taking a few deep mouthfuls of his blood.

'I claim you as my blood, my brethren, my family, my clan. Blood binds us, blood protects us, blood defines us, always.' He whispered, ignoring the scream of anger from Darla. Spike groaned and opened his eyes as he vamped out, lunging towards Angel and sinking his own fangs into his grandsires neck. He repeated the words, his voice rusty from disuse and then sat back, his vamp face melting away as he rocked on his heels. Angel rolled to his feet, looking around for Darla, but she had disappeared.

_You think you're outwitting us, Angelus. But you've only reaffirmed your familial claim on the boy. He won't be able to mate with the girl without losing control. And you think we can watch her take _him_ as a mate? You could stand knowing he was taking what is yours? I beg to differ, my boy. You will fail._

Her voice echoed in his mind as he watched Spike rocking, his blood dripping down the others chin. He could feel the confusion in the younger vampire, the bond new and strong between them. He kenw Darla's words were designed to cut him and a few months ago they would have but now? Now he felt a sense of peace with the situation. It didn't matter that Buffy would choose Spike for her mate. He saw the intensity between them, knew Spike would protect her with his own life. It wasn't as if he would lose everything.

He would have a family again, a place to belong.

But in order to have that, the ritual needed to be finished.

Which wouldn't be easy since Spike had disappeared.

-P—

Dawn found herself standing outside the old factory, watching it burn. She remembered this incident, too well in fact. Ms Calendar had died, Giles had almost died and Buffy had kept her awake all night crying. She'd hated those nights after Angel had become Angelus. It was one thing she'd always been terrified of.

'Ah, Dawnie.' Angelus appeared from the shadows, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement. This wasn't her sisters one time love. This was the demon that had shattered her completely. It had taken Spike's love to slowly rebuild the heart Buffy had once worn on her sleeve. 'So nice to see you out here, all alone, at night.' He leered at her. 'What fun we shall have.'

Dawn began to back up, before she realised that she had no reason to be afraid. "Hank" hadn't touched her, neither had Wesley. The scenes were apparitions. Angelus seemed to sense her train of thought, and smiled evilly.

'Really, Dawnie?' The name rolled off his tongue with practiced ease, the patronising tone something she'd grown used to. 'You should know, if the mind can suffer, it's enough for me.' He took another step forward, smiling all the while and it made her bones shiver with disgust. 'I really wish I'd gotten hold of you when you were younger. I do love young girls. Making them scream and suffer, there's nothing as sweet as the sound of innocence being ripped away. I did that to your sister. She'll always wear the imprint of my torture.'

'Shut up, you big…douchebag!' She retorted, staring him down. _Angel isn't like this, they're trying to make you doubt yourself and him. He isn't like this, he won't be like this again._ Dawn stood her ground, wondering for a brief second where the others were.

'You would have loved it I bet. Feeling me inside you, taking whatever your little body has to give, you still would. I could make you scream, make it hurt in all the right places.' He smirked. 'Spike would have enjoyed it too. Watching or joining in. He loved hearing how I took it from your sister.'

But she knew he was lying. Spike had openly shown disgust with rape and forceful men. He'd been appalled at Angelus' repeated bragging about how he'd deflowered the Slayer. Dawn smiled back, realising one thing. These bastards didn't know Spike very well at all. They'd spent years studying Angel, but they'd never been able to crack the core of Spike, never been able to get inside his mind because he'd protected himself. So they were grasping at straws, lumping evil vampire in with evil vampire. And there was only one thing to do, when she knew she was gonna win.

Get her own way.

Dawn Summers opened her mouth and let it rip.

-P—

Buffy frowned and then sighed. She was back in the blasted desert. But apparently not alone. Spike knelt, rocking back and forth in the sand, apparently unaware of his situation. He mumbled to himself and as Buffy walked around him, she became aware of a large bite mark on his neck, but it was neat and did not look like the result of any attack. She stood in front of him, unsure as to whether she should touch him or not. He continued to rock back and forth, mumbling and not noticing anything around him.

It didn't take long for her patience to wear thin and she poked him with her finger, and he froze, his head snapping up, golden eyes meeting her hazel ones.

He launched himself at her without pause and she prepared to defend herself against the attack, until she realized he was nuzzling at her, whispering her name like a revered prayer. His tongue came out to caress her neck at the pulse point and she felt the barest scrape of fangs on her skin. She hissed and arched up into his touch as his hands wandered up and down her body.

She wasn't expecting him to be pulled away from her, snarling and straining. Invisible bonds pinned him to a nearby withered tree and Buffy sprang to her feet, ready to defend him. He snapped and growled at his unseen attackers. The wind whipped up around them and stopped Buffy from reaching the stressed vampire. Then the voices started.

_I'm using you. I can't love you._

_You're disgusting. An evil, disgusting thing._

_Ask me again why I could never trust you._

Spike strained further against the bonds as Buffy stared, dumbstruck, agonised by the past between them. And suddenly, with perfect clarity, staring at the snarling and struggling beast in front of her, she realised how much she loved him. Just how far she was willing to go for him. And she took a step forward.

The cyclone building between them intensified and she shouted her anger at it. It actually _laughed_ back. Then it spoke.

'_You think you can beat us? We are infinite, we are the purest of the pure. This beast is ours and you try to defy us?'_

'He isn't yours. He'll never be yours! You tried that one before and we took him back!' She screamed in response and received only more laughter in return. She scowled and took another step, fighting against the storm.

'_He will never be yours, Slayer. This beast will tear you limb from limb. You have no idea of the torment you shall suffer if you attempt to take him as your own.'_

Images of her future flashed before her eyes, the death of her loved ones, a blatantly fake image of Spike with another woman.

'_Your destiny will be forgotten, he will destroy everything you love and everything you are. You will be nothing.'_

'And you know how I know that's lies?' Buffy shouted. 'Because it's all been said before. I've beaten prophecies, I've beaten destiny. You think I'm afraid of you?' She looked towards the vampire who was tied to the tree and staring straight at her as he tensed against the bonds. 'I love him.' She said, smiling at the blonde vampire. 'I don't even care if he can't understand me, cos I'll show him every day.'

A scream echoed around them as Buffy threw herself forward towards her vampire. The storm disappeared and she fell flat on her face in the sand. She spat some out of her mouth and then looked up at Spike, whose human face had returned and he gazed down at her. She had no idea if he could understand her, if he was still crazy or not, but the way he looked at her was the Spike she knew.

Then his skin started to smoulder and burn in front of her.

-P—


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

**Warning: **This chapter will contain some smut and some Dawn/Angel friendship and a little bit of a hash out between them.

-P—

Dawn found herself back in the hallway after she'd started screaming at the top of her lungs. Apparently whatever was taunting them, couldn't stand the sound of a teenager screaming and had realised the mind games weren't working. But she'd been sat here for half an hour and was wondering and worrying what had happened to her sister and the two vampires. Without warning, Angel was dumped unceremoniously on his ass in front of her. She giggled at the gobsmacked look on his face.

'You okay?' She asked, offering him a hand. Angel took it but didn't use any of her momentum to drag himself up. She rolled her eyes and stepped back when he was stood and brushing himself down.

'I'm fine. Are you okay?' He asked, looking around.

'Great.' She said dismissively. 'They aren't here. I don't know where they are. I was alone through the whole thing.' Angel nodded and continued looking around. Dawn sighed. 'There isn't a way out either. I think we have to wait until whoever decides they want to play with us some more.' She sounded more than bored. Angel laughed.

'You sound just like your sister. Or at least, how she sounded when I met her.' He said, walking over to the fountain that was still sprouting from nowhere. He began to investigate as Dawn folded her arms across her chest.

'I think you'll find I'm a little mature than she was at this age. But then, you met her round about this time didn't you?'

He froze and turned back to her. 'Dawn….did something happen?'

'Oh, nothing. I got to face your not so pleasant alter ego.' He moved back over checking her for injuries. She swatted him away. 'I'm fine, I think you'll find I'm little more thick skinned than my sister when it comes to Angelus. His words don't get to me.' She waited for his response but his face simply descended back into a brooding expression. 'Look, I hated you for a long time. You hurt her. Badly. And now she has a chance for something good. Spike isn't perfect, far from. But if you stand in the way of this, we're all dead, you get that right?' Angel simply looked even broodier. 'You're not an idiot Angel, but you have this seriously bad complex of dwelling on yourself. You aren't that great. You're a great big….irritating poof sometimes.' That made him smile. 'But we have to stick together.'

'I know that Dawn.'

'You realise you never knew me, don't you? I didn't exist. I could mean nothing to you.'

'You're made from Buffy. I'll always protect you. You're precious to her and to Spike.' He said, his chest swelling a little. Dawn seemed to clock on.

'The bonding ritual. You already claimed him as family didn't you?' He nodded in response. 'I really want to know what is happening with those two right now.'

'They're not dead. I'd know.' Angel said quietly.

'Claim thingy, right?' Dawn frowned. 'Will it be that way with us?' The vampire shook his head. She bit her lip. 'So….what will happen? Giles didn't know.'

'You'll just know when we're near, know if we're in danger-'

'Eww. We won't be able to tell if….well, if one of us is like, rocking the casba will we?' Angel laughed at the pure disgust on the younger Summers' face. He shook his head.

'No. If that was the case, I'd have rather let the world end.' He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'It's going to be fine Dawn. You'll see.'

A roar from behind them made them both freeze and Angel felt something inside him drop as he saw the fear and wide eyes of Dawn. He turned very slowly, pushing the girl behind him, as he saw what was upon them. A twenty foot beast with horns as big as Angel himself, fists the size of Volkswagens and legs like tree trunks stood over the fountain, snarling, great goblets of drool landing at his feet. The two looked up as the monster towered over them, and they wondered, not for the first time, how exactly they were going to get out of this one.

-P—

Spike was burning in front of her. His skin was turning red, and small patches of fire broke out over him. Buffy threw herself towards him, patting out the fire. His wrists fell free from the bindings and he fell forward, screaming as the sun began to slowly kill him.

'This is your grand plan? You can't beat me over with words, so you cheat?' Buffy screamed, trying in vain to stop Spike burning. It was happening so agonising slowly, and his screams of pain echoed through her every cell as she began to cry. 'I can't lose you, not now.' There was no shade around, no caves, nothing. Just the old tree. 'You're mine Spike, you always were.' She covered his body with her own, wrapping her arms around him as the fire began to touch her skin too. 'I love you.'

She kissed him to silence his screams and he held on back, ignoring the pain in favour of the golden goddess burning with him.

'Buffy. You'll burn.' The first words he'd spoken to her, and it was to show his concern for her.

'I don't care. If you go, I go with you. Not letting go again.' She whispered, gritting her teeth against the pain. The fire intensified, and she knew it wouldn't be long. She kissed his neck, then bared her blunt teeth and bit down hard enough to draw blood. Spike groaned underneath her, arching and vampire out, burrowing his own fangs into her neck. She writhed against him, not letting go, even as his coppery blood filled her mouth and the fire consumed them both. As the flames surrounded them, they both let go and whispered mutual agreeing words, connecting with each other deeper than anyone would have imagined.

'I love you.' Spike whispered, looking up at her, 'I don't know how long I can hold on, Buffy.'

'It doesn't matter,' she said, kissing him, unaware now of the fire burning hot around them. 'We're together.'

'Not the fire. That's their fancy tricks. They're losing and they know it. I meant, how long I can hold onto this.' She looked even more confused. 'Myself.'

'You're not crazy anymore.' Buffy whispered. 'You're thinking you might lose it again.'

Spike shook his head and held her tighter. 'Here, right now, I can come back to you, but it's them. They're still trying to get inside. I can't…' He suddenly screamed again and reared back, nearly throwing Buffy off. She held onto him, noticing what he had about the fire, that it had disappeared and the desert was slowly being plunged into night. She looked back down at Spike, her hands gripping him with a bruising force. He snarled and thrashed, fading in and out of his demons face, snapping at air and trying to throw her off.

She gripped him harder, pulling herself to him. 'Bury it. Hide. You know you're mine and I'm yours. They can't take that away. I'll bring you back, I promise.' He roared with anger and his demon took over. He pushed Buffy off, and she rolled to the side, watching as he convulsed and twisted, fighting off whatever was trying to hurt him. She knew he'd go back inside himself, it was the only way to stop whatever had tormented him in the hell dimension.

Not long after it had started, it stopped again and he shifted onto his front, pushing himself up onto his arms. Buffy got to her knees, watching him, knowing he was safe to her because of the throbbing mark that she carried now on her neck. He growled and turned to her, feral eyes searching hers. Then he sniffed the air and lunged for her, his mouth claiming hers in a passionate embrace and she clung to him, running her hands over his half naked body.

It didn't take long for him to be hard and ready for her, slipping hand down her jeans and thrusting two fingers inside her with a powerful force behind them. She gasped and arched upwards as he kept up the pace, his mouth going to her neck and sucking hard on his mark. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and she screamed in pleasure. This seemed to get him going even more and he threw her down onto the cooling sand, ripping her clothes from her. It didn't take long for her to push his jeans down and he was atop her in a second, kissing her with a bruising force as he positioned himself at her core, pushing in with one violent thrust.

Their coupling was fierce and intense, their duel cries of pleasure echoing around the desert. Deep down, Buffy knew it was kind of perverted that whatever they were fighting was watching them be so intimate, but as his fangs sank into the claiming mark on her neck, she forgot to care and shrieked as she came hard. His growl of possession was increased as she returned the claim and whispered her own possession in his ear as he crested inside of her.

Then the sand fell away and in a cheesy, porn cliché way, the world dissipated around them.

-P—

'What do we do?' Dawn whispered. 'We have no weapons.' Her eyes were wide and frightened and the beast was looming right over the top of them. Angel held her behind him, allowing his demon to assess the situation. It didn't look good.

A feeling inside him, suddenly clicked and he gasped with the realisation. He could feel Spike, but through that bond, he could feel Buffy. They done it. They'd claimed each other. His eyes widened with shock, and then he did something he'd never expect.

He smiled.

The demon was still advancing and he pulled Dawn with him as he rolled out of the way of its first attack with one of its giant fists. Dawn shrieked at the movement and Angel came up behind her, knowing what had to be done. He gripped her by the shoulder, not painfully but firmly. His vampire was at the fore and he leant down. He quickly bit Dawn's neck, sinking his fangs into the jugular as she yelped but stayed where she was. He barely took a mouthful and then let go.

'I claim you as my blood, my brethren, my family, my clan. Blood binds us, blood protects us, blood defines us, always.' He repeated the phrase he had used with Spike and then slit his wrist, holding it to Dawn. 'Drink a little and repeat what I said.' He instructed. Dawn looked at little green at the prospect of drinking blood but the monster gaining momentum for a new attack spurred her past the ick factor. She seized his wrist and drank a little, pulling a face and then repeated the words he'd said.

Not sooner had she finished saying it, than she felt like the world moved. She gasped as something ran through her and she looked at the world with new eyes. Angel smiled at her and pulled her to his side.

'Little factor we didn't think about. You're linked to two master vampires and a slayer. No way that wouldn't supercharge you somehow.' His smile faded into awe as he got a good look at her eyes, which were glowing a surreal green as opposed to her normal bright blue. Dawn grinned back and looked at the monster with a sadistic look on her face.

A loud pop echoed through the hall and behind the monster, a fully clothed Buffy and Spike landed in a compromising clinch. No sooner than they'd landed they realised where they were and the large beast standing between them and Dawn and Angel. They scrambled to their feet and the power between the four beings made the room sizzle. The monster stalled for a second, before roaring again, determined not to let it's masters down.

Spike answered with his own roar, which Angel echoed, whilst the Summers sisters looked at each other with a knowing expression.

'Showtime.' Buffy whispered.

-P-

**Aren't you guys lucky? Two chapters in one day. I'm not even tired yet so you might get another one. Maybe even the ending. Maybe.**

**I'll think about it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

**I'm not dragging the battle scene out, in fact, quite the opposite. And I'm not giving Spike the usual self-flagellation trip. So on with the show. There'll be an epilogue after this and then I'll be done. Enjoy.**

-P—

It was an all for all brawl. Angel and Spike attacked from one side, whilst Buffy and Dawn fought in tandem. The beast landed blow after blow, snarling, spitting and roaring at its opponents, well aware it was fighting a losing battle. Blood spattered the hall from every side and within minutes the monster was on its knees. Dawn and Buffy stood back as the boys finished the job, watching as side by side, they punched their fists into the beast's chest cavity, ripping out its black heart.

It disintegrated, which was not be unexpected and the two vampires landed on the floor. Spike was up first, snarling and waiting for the next opponent until he realised there was none. Dawn was the first to run to him, hugging him. Buffy helped Angel up and hugged him, much to his surprise. Then she pulled away.

'We need to finish the ritual.' She looked between the four of them, feeling the confusion and abating anger from her mate. Then the hall became as it was, and Wesley stepped from the fountain once more.

'Actually, you already did.' The ex watcher stood before them, smiling broadly. 'They're really not happy about it. They've been planning for this for a millennia. And you've thrown a spanner in the works.'

'But we…' Angel looked confused.

'You're already linked to one another. Buffy is mated to Spike. You are Spike's grandsire and you reinstated the family claim, the same as you did with Dawn. And Dawn was made from Buffy and Spike and therefore, is already connected to them. The circle is complete. You've won.' He sighed. 'This doesn't bode well for me, but I knew what I was getting into. As much as I am having to be their pawn….I was rooting for you.' Angel stepped forward, not noticing the complete confusion on the Summers girls faces.

'Wesley…' The Brit held up a hand.

'Don't apologise. You did your part. The world is saved. Some of it may need salvaging but I can tell you it will be a while before you have a problem of this magnitude again.' He smiled at Buffy. 'You truly are an extraordinary Slayer, Buffy.'

The Slayer stopped and tilted her head to the side. 'What do you mean that Dawn is made out of me and Spike?'

Wesley smiled. 'She is yours and his. The monks made her out of both of you. Spike's feelings for her were never manufactured. He would care for her as naturally as you do. She is your daughter.'

'Can I still just be sister?' Dawn asked quietly. 'No offence, Buffy, but you aren't mom material.' Buffy frowned and Wesley cleared her throat.

'She will be one day.' He said, and moved swiftly on as Buffy stared at him in shock. 'Spike will recover. The Wolf, The Ram and The Hart have no further interest in him.' Angel raised an eyebrow. 'Nor you Angel. You've all proven….it's just not worth the effort. They'll try again next millennium I think.' Without warning, flames began to lick at his shoes. 'I have said too much. I'm afraid it's my time. I bid you farewell and good luck.'

'Wes…' Angel started. His friend shook his head.

'Now, now Angel. You of all people know, a rogue demon hunters work is never done.' With a smile he was consumed by the fire and the four were back out in the field, surrounded by confused slayers and their friends, the demons all gone. Injured girls were all over the place and the sky was a brilliant starry blanket. Xander was the first to approach.

'What the hell happened? You were in there for like, five minutes, and then everything disappeared.'

The quartet looked at each other. Buffy gripped Spike's hand as he growled in approval.

'How about, let's get everyone back to the house, and we'll explain all?' The Slayer said, smiling at her friend and then to Giles and Willow. A exclamation of pain turned her attention back to her one time first love. He had fallen and was writhing on the ground in pain. 'Angel?'

Everyone rushed to his side, looking down at the fallen vampire as he seemed to be filled with an ethereal glow. He shook and shuddered for a few minutes, before going still as a corpse. Seconds turned into minutes and Buffy frowned, gripping Spike tighter as his expression grew concerned and the growling started again. He let go of Buffy and knelt down beside the fallen brunette, touching him gently and listening for any signs of life.

When Angel sat bolt upright, gasping for air, Spike was so startled, he fell backwards with a yelp. Dawn giggled, as did Buffy, and Angel looked at him in confusion and then clutched at his chest. He smiled broadly, motioning for Buffy to put her hand where his was. At the look on her face, he smiled even more.

'The Shanshu.'

-P—

'So, Angel is human now?' Xander asked. 'How does that work? I thought he signed the prophecy away?' He looked to Giles for an answer but the old man shrugged and looked to Buffy. Willow stepped in, smiling at her best friend and the glow that seemed to have overtaken her as she sat on Spike's lap in the office. Spike was still, very much with the crazy, but wasn't dangerous now. Although Giles didn't look too happy about his Slayer being mated to William the Bloody.

'Maybe it's just the way it works. They tried to take away his hope but they couldn't really have the power to take away his destiny.' The red head smiled, but she looked tired, as they all did. Giles took note of the circles underneath the witches eyes and Xander's. Most of the others, including Dawn and Angel, had already gone to bed. He sighed and looked at his Slayer, rolling his eyes as she had fallen asleep in the crazy vampires embrace.

'We should all get some rest. We'll debrief in the morning and figure out where to go from here. The world is saved but is in need of some healing.' He stood up, effectively dismissing everyone. As Spike noticed the others leaving, he picked Buffy up and followed them. He stood for a moment, wondering where he was supposed to go. Giles cleared his throat. 'Maybe I should take her.' He was answered with a snarl and Spike stalked off with the slayer in his arms, in the direction of the basement. Giles sighed and decided not to comment or follow him.

Instead, he went to bed, refusing the consider the outcome of everything until the morning.

-P—

Buffy was woken by the door opening and the smell of bacon wafting in. She woke up and stretched, feeling her vampire asleep next to her, and smiled at the nest he'd made them before they had slept. Looking up, she saw Xander carrying a breakfast tray with a full cooked English breakfast on it, with two of everything and a cup of the sweetest smelling coffee she'd ever known. She leapt to her feet and hugged her friend. He smiled as she let go.

'You okay Buff?' He asked, looked over her shoulder at the still wounded and crazy vampire. 'How's dead boy?'

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of coffee, making a over exaggerated noise of pleasure. Spike stirred at that and she grinned again. 'He's fine. I'm fine. It's nice to be fine.' Buffy paused and looked at Xander. Then she noticed the mug of blood on the tray. 'You're okay with this?' She asked tentatively.

He sighed and smiled sadly. 'I know what it's like to deny something for so long you end up losing it and you feel like nothing will be right again. You deserve happiness Buffy. You always have. And I know he'll give it to you.' He shrugged. 'Or I'll stake him.'

Buffy giggled, and then jumped as Spike came up behind her with a supernatural speed. Xander suddenly noticed that the vampire was naked and backed out of the room very quickly. Spike growled at the scent of blood and swiped the mug, downing it in seconds. Then he looked at Buffy, who looked down and then up again rapidly, going bright red.

'Well, I see you're up.'

-P—

Xander tried to ignore the sounds coming from the basement behind him as he made his way up the stairs. He was fairly certain the whole house could hear it and he shuddered. As he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the front door was open. He moved to shut it and spotted Angel, stood in the morning sunshine, arms thrust wide open. A giggle from behind the former carpenter made him turn and he saw Dawn, sat on the stairs, laughing at the former vampire. The one eyed Scooby shook his head and turned towards the kitchen, spotting a Willow on his travels.

The red headed witch smiled at him broadly and offered him a coffee, which he gratefully took. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up.

'Why didn't Spike get that Shanshu thing?'

Willow brightened. 'I looked that up. Apparently it wasn't clear which one it was for, until Angel signed it away. Spike didn't want it anyway. Can you imagine him being human? He doesn't do normal.' The witch smiled. 'Buffy's needs him anyway. Her and normal are unmixy things.'

Xander nodded. 'I'm glad that after nearly a decade, we figured that out.' He sipped his coffee throughtfully. 'Did you see Angel? He's totally gonna get sunburn.'

'Is that possible in England?' Dawn wandered into the kitchen. Willow nodded and launched into a lecture about proper skin care. Giles walked in on it and sighed.

'You know, it doesn't rain all the time here.' He said, with a note of exasperation in his voice.

'Sure seems like it.' Dawn said, her mouth full of toast. She swallowed hard and skipped out of the kitchen with another piece in hand. Giles shook his head and watched her leave.

'I need to get those four in the gymnasium and test their abilities now they are linked. Angel assures me he can still feel the connection between them.'

Xander looked at the Watcher and then towards the door. 'I can't believe Dawn is Buffy and Spike's though. That's a little disturbing.'

'I can quite believe it. I often wondered where she got her keen ability of being so irritating from.' Willow chuckled at his comment. Giles looked at his watch and picked up his tea. After taking a sip, he looked again at his watch. 'I suppose I should go and get Buffy and Spike up for this testing.'

'NO!' The two Scoobies chorused. Giles looked at them in alarm. 'They, really really, need their rest.' Willow mumbled, going a bright shade of red, as did Xander. Giles' eyes bugged for a second, before he removed his glasses and started polishing them.

'Very well. I shall wait.'

-P—

Buffy lay in post coital bliss next to her vampire, who purred contentedly and traced lazy patterns over her stomach. She didn't even care if he was practically still crazy right now, he was here and with her. Not to mention, being not of the sane didn't seem to hinder his bedroom skills. He smiled, as if sensing her thoughts, and kissed a slow path down her neck.

'I'd never forget how to make you scream, Slayer.' He nuzzled her, ignoring the look of shock on her face. 'My mate, my Buffy.' He whispered and licked the bite mark on her neck languidly. She sighed and arched, forgetting her reaction to his first words. Then she came back down and smacked him on the chest.

'You're sane again.'

'I'm getting there.' Spike smirked. 'Without you, I'd be nowhere.' He kissed her again but she pushed him away.

'You know, Angel is human. And Dawn is our daughter.' She raised an eyebrow and he shook his head.

'Buffy, I was off my rocker, not deaf and blind. I know that. And I don't care.'

'You wouldn't want….the shoeshine thing?' Buffy asked slowly, one hand on his chest, waiting for his answer. He sighed and gathered her into his arms.

'A long time ago, I told someone that you needed monster in your man. I'm a vampire, I have a soul and I fight for you. If I was human, I'd go batshit crazy. What would I do? Knit? I don't think so. Angel has wanted his redemption for so long.' He kissed her long and deep. 'As far as I'm concerned….you're mine. You're my Shanshu.'

She blushed and rolled them over so she was on top.

Needless to say, they were very, very late for Giles' tests.

-P—

**Just a epilogue to follow now. Hope you've enjoyed this one. I'm just glad I got it finished finally!**


	8. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

**AND WE'RE DONE! Yay! Now I can start work on my other stories. I've got ten days in Cornwall next week, so I'll be using some time there to enjoy some inspiration.**

-P—

Six months later

Buffy hissed as her fingers came away burned. She sucked on the injury and snarled at her opponent, sizing it up and planning a strategy. Finally she used her weapon of choice and the pasta bake was on the side, cooling as the Slayer ran her fingers under a cold tap. She made faces at the dinner she'd prepared and then set about making the dessert.

It had been a peaceful six months, full of rebuilding. The TV stations and news had reported the almost Apocalypse as a terrorist nerve gas attack. Buffy and everyone else had laughed at that. Giles had run all of his tests and discovered Dawn was now a Slayer, and her latent Key abilities were coming out. She had requested training and was due back tonight from her special camp. Tonight was a big deal. She'd been cooking all day, whilst Spike slept in the basement of their new house in South London. It was a lovely little place, close to shops but quiet and Spike had enjoyed showing her the nightlife in his home city.

Everyone was coming over tonight. Angel had flown in with Nina, his werewolf girlfriend, Willow was bringing Oz, who had appeared back on the scene a month after the apocalypse and they had slowly built their relationship back up. Xander had met someone and was bringing her tonight to introduce her to the gang. Buffy had met her already, she was called Kate and was a demonologist with a love for nerdy comics and films. She and Xander made pretty much the perfect couple and she was slowly helping him overcome his problems. Buffy was very happy for him. Giles was turning up with Olivia and Andrew was making the trip down from Scotland, where he'd been on research.

It was a big meal. Faith and Robin had declined a visit. Illyria had found no use for them after the fight and had disappeared from their lives. The only one mourning her was Spike, mainly because he'd enjoyed the work out. Not that he wasn't getting plenty of exercise with his Slayer.

She smiled fondly at the thought of her vampire. He had come on in leaps and bounds after the fight, and had readily accepted his role. He helped Giles with research, had taught her how to cook, had decorated their whole house. Except for one room, which they weren't sure what to do with.

Buffy bit her lip as she finished glazing the pie she'd cooked. For one brief second, she wished her mom was here with her, to share in her happy life, but she knew, wherever she was, she was watching over her. Sometimes she was sad that she'd lost her mom's grave in Sunnydale, but she knew she could pay respects anywhere. She'd grown a special patch of flowers in the garden, with Willow's help, and they used it to honour the people they had loved and lost.

The doorbell rang and knocked Buffy out of her reverie. She ran to answer it and Willow stood, alone. The witch smiled at the slayer and held up a bottle of wine.

'Willow!' She smiled. 'Where's Oz?'

The red head stepped into the house. 'He's coming later. I thought we could have girl time whilst your vamp is asleep.' She made her way into the kitchen as Buffy shut the door and followed her. Willow grabbed two glasses and turned around. 'I can't wait to see Dawnie…..' Willow trailed off, gawping at Buffy all of a sudden.

The Slayer squirmed under her best friend's gaze. 'What? Do I have something on my face?'

Slowly, Willow turned around and placed one glass back into the cupboard. Buffy looked puzzled.

'You know you and Spike were arguing over the spare room?' Buffy nodded, her brain slowly catching up with her best friend's line of thought. Willow beamed.

'I don't think he'll have a choice now.'

**FIN**


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